Cedric The Entertainer

00:00:00 Speaker 1: Question. Love Supreme is a production of iHeart Radio Word Works, So brought up what's going on? What's going on? Hey good, good to sell you guys. The other night that was lit. Are you was there? Yeah? Yeah in La. Yeah those are okay. That was my first time at the form and I enjoyed that. Uh yeah, yeah, I did it. Uh I did it in May with the tour we was on. That was I hadn't been I had actually did it one other time with me and George and all them. But there's a great performance venue. Yeah, it's ready to being a venue which there's not bouncing sound and all us. Yeah, it's exactly they did. We can introduce ourselves to say it. Are we I'm la. How you doing Yeah, yes, ye work it worked him out, Yeah yeah, get all of 'em. It's alive. I'm fine man. We met a few times we uh, I think prom my family backstage and you guys weren't robbigh. This was a couple of years ago when you and Eddie and George I was doing y'all tour and uh, I think you and Pool y'all played. I think you and Pool was doing just do something with sports together. Something from the Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's right. We had one of those football things together. It was all in yeah, collect to Steve. Just rolled the joint though, what with you? Yeah we probably did. Yeo, I just rolled ten joints. It's his birthday saying let's go Stevie ship. That's good. Let's good. Nice to me, yes, sir. Congratulations on your book. Man, it's nice to see all these Saint Louis references in here. I got a mama from there. Oh word, okay, yeah yeah really uh, really happy with the way it turned down. Everything, so super excited about it. It looked like it's gonna be on somebody's stage or screen and it's years maybe. Yeah, yeah, it's got definitely got all the elements of being a great story. Actually, it's kind of where I started it. I started writing the writing a TV show idea, and then it and then the book. Opportunity came so so dope. Man. All right, ladies and gentlemen, the summer is over. I hope you guys thrived and uh and did well. There's another episode of the Quest of Supreme. I'm Your's Quest Love. We have our team Supremes with us. Take a little bro what's up, man, Oh working, man, working? How is your summer? Summer was? It was hot? I think I realized this summer. My favorite season really is fall. I think only like summer as a kid because there was no school. Summer as an adult, it's fucking hot. I've had this shit because the fall guy. But I mean, but the summer it was cool. I didn't get to cook as much as I wanted to be. It was just it was just that hot. It was too crazy. But uh, but no, we had a good time man, and the family too. You have an outdoor set up in your crip. Oh yeah, oh yeah, I got my got my the big green egg. I do it on that. And you know that's normally where I do all my all my cooking outside my grilling. But uh, you ain't your real griller if you ain't got that egg. I heard that's like a thing. I mean, it's it's official. But I mean, listen, I haven't seen dudes get busy in a file cabinet before, So you know what I mean, if you got the skill to do it, you know what I mean. I want to talk barbecue. We'll get into I want to talk barbecue to siggause. I know you're an anthem. Y'all got your out thing too, so but yeah, man, uh yeah, my someone was cool. My someone was cool. We're it up, that's right, Steve. You remember we used to put out the deluxe George Foreman grill on the patio. No, we had a real barbecue. But you're Foreman with Sandy definitely had I missed my former grill. Man, it's probably still on that patio. I've left the house like sixteen years ago. I bet you still out there. I was just summer, Steve, What's what's going on? Bro Man? Just like Fantas a lot of a lot of work, a lot of projects. Got the record label NonStop or just did our twenty third record on on JMI and twenty three Records. Twenty three Records, Yeah, last six six use you guys remember when it started, right around the time Quest of Supreme started. Yeah, every one was the first one, wasn't it was a sex second one. Yeah, it's like ten angry albums later. Yeah, Well he's our he's our flagship artist for sure, Okay, and a lot of good stuff coming out. Yeah cool? Why you how goes it? It goes? Well? Uh? Much like Fante. It was a hot summer, especially because it was my first Perry summer. So that was an experience. Oh fellas, so let me INTERDVI tell you Perry. Menopause is the theff that happens before menopause. It could pop off at like, you know, thirty five, starting the age of thirty five. Mine happened a little later. And that's just when you get all the heat from the menopause. All your things are still rolling. You know, your body's still doing things, maybe not as often. You know, I'll be partying for fifty days without a situation, but yeah, if you look at me now, there's a glow. So she's saying every day summer for you. Every day summer, every day. Shout out to your bandmate Kamal, who wanted to make that known to everyone yesterday. I'm still gonna kick his ass. What did he do? Oh no, he just didn' announced that I had my menopause fan in my hand, and I was like, it is, but let me tell my story. No, no, no no, no, no no, he only knows that because I can attest that Kamal Tariq and maybe two other routes also had their fans in there. There's a thing that you plug into your iPhone and yeah it cools you off and yeah, we're up there. Man. This this, this is the summer which I felt whatever the equivalent of preschool is to being a senior citizen. That was this summer. The Force Dog. This was not a music tour. This was this was camp Jay. This is literally g I Jane, Oh, please tell us something to me or tell us something. No, like Ella wasn't having it like we've been. I probably lost an additional fifteen pounds. Like well he has working out lifting weights, like getting cupping every night and to the spot to get yo. I need you all relaxed, man, getting drips oxygen tanks like ell is I mean not like major pain level of drill, sergeant, but like you don't take that. He looks phenomenal, so you know there, it's got to be a lot to make that happen. Well, yeah, it's it's definitely an osmosis effect that's been happening. So you know, four more gigs left. But I will say this is one of the hardest summers of my life. Like and I had to do you know, running none of that stuff, like I mean you've seen the show like the you've seen us injured, like you saw Thaddy is jumping one leg and and and it was the wettest I ever seen you. You got off stage, you was like soaked. I was like, that's not like you. You do it like as nothing. Three and a half hours. Well, you saw a short show that was just like three hours on the news. But normally it's like three and a half hours back where I belong. Sitting in the chair, talking and not moving is where I'm the happiest. So again, I will say that long time listeners of the show should know how much we love focusing on career pivots. All of us have reached our pivot where we were one thing when the show first started, that where you know, multi hyphenated doing other things. And I will say that our guests this week is absolutely all about that. You know, as probably one of the biggest stand ups in all of comedy, and he's pivot to become a fixture on his television, film actor stage. We known him first for comedy and then you know, if you're if your fans will comic view and def comedy jam And in the Primetime Emmy Awards you know our guests, but you know he's also executive produced show and create opportunities for so many other comedians and actors in his wake. But also I will say that our guest tonight, he's sort of expanding his palette a little bit. And he is a novelist and his first novel, Flipping Box Cars, is currently out, and he's joined us to talk about his life, his career, and his many pivots. Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for the one and only your next classic. That's the Black Black People have Wait, so this is what you don't know. Said, Okay, So without alienating my position with one of my jobs with the Roots now fifteen years at that job, we kind of have a short list of the types of a guest. They get to the couch, but we have a top five list of people who are are snooze city like like give it like when you see it on television, it's perfectly edited, it's nice. But these are like eighteen minutes story like the equivalent of me in real life on the show. And it's to the point now where all three if your ad libs, uh like literally your ad libs are triggered on my computer to the right, and that's what I used to sometimes make fun of guests on the show. So you know, if you happen to see us laughing from the couch and you didn't say anything funny, Yeah, no, that's one of my favorite bits. Man. I love that. How are you doing, bro, I'm good, brother doing everything? Well, man, it's good. Are you in the car right now? Yeah? Man, I was actually out with my wife. What's up with every black guest that we have? Hey do their interview porson in the car? This is where it's where it's uh soundproof and whatnot? Where are you calling us from? I'm I'm actually at the nail shop. So my wife wanted me to come to come to the nail shop with her, and then I was like, oh. I was like, our anniversary was Sunday, so I've been like just anniversary and it up with her like so each day whatever she wants to do, and I you know, I was like, babe, I got this interview and she was like, come, it's gonna be fast, and of course it's not. She and they're getting jailed toes and dips they dipping. It's all I said, I gotta go to the car and do this interview. So it's long enough for you to do a podcast. Yeah, if she's getting jailed on the toes and the hands, yes, long yeah, wait yeah can I can? I ask you guys for advice. So at what point in the relationship do you realize that you shouldn't do too much at the beginning because then you'll have to maintain that level of excellence throughout the entire relationship, Like when February is looking around? Yeah, do y'all feel like the pressure of God? Yeah, you can easily put yourself in to your point, you can put yourself in bad situations and depending on the person you you you're dating, right, my wife is not really big on her birthday, but her anniversary that means that means much to her. So anniversaries are things that I gotta go hard on. Valentine's Day is something that she's just as long as I pay attention and don't forget. Were good. But like you know, but like Thanksgiving, Christmas, anything to do with the kids, Like the kids gotta be like their birthdays and what we do to celebrate them or I need to be very concerned. Learned about that as a man, which is you know, in most cases, I am not. I'd be like yeo, when when was these little kids born again? Like I don't know, Okay, they are old and stuff. Now I'm looking at them like I don't know who your birthday is? Bro. Okay. I was about to say after after twenty three, my dad stopped acknowledging my birthday. So yeah, yeah, it's like like come man, come on down like slew. Oh yeah, I'll be doing my son like that mom man every birthday, bro, Like that's it, you know, Yeah, you're no longer a little dude where I gotta get the cake and throw the Lakers birthday party for you and all that stuff, you know, like you know, I all know your kids now, man. May My son is gonna be twenty three in the end of September, and my daughter will be twenty in November. And I got an older daughter that's thirty four and a granddaughter that's seven. Wow. So yeah, and you and your wife y'all got twenty years in is it's twenty fi twenty four, twenty four bo if. Yeah that's beautiful. Congratulations. What's what's your secret? I'm always looking for advice. What's what's the secret to keep it in alive? I mean, I mean, I mean, we really enjoy each other. I think that was the main thing, is to really kind of keep your wife as your girlfriend, you know, try to keep that that part of it alive, you know, so that you don't get into playing those kind of traditional roles and get you know, everybody just kind of like playing the game of marriage. So we still like date a lot and have fun together and laugh a lot and have our own inside stuff. And it's important. Even when we was raising the kids, we still like, you know, made it, you know, made our relationship about us, and you know, the parent and part of it was again a part of the overall system. But never was it all about like, oh, you know, we just gonna be mom and daddy and not you ain't gonna be my my girl. You know what I'm saying. You gotta be my girl too. So I think that's the key. That's what's up. I've never had in depth conversation with any of the kings of comedy. And yeah, you know, I've seen many you know, like a documentary on like the comedy act theory and all those things, But I know that a lot of you have gotten your start out, I'm assuming like in the Midwest then making your way out west. So just in general, I want to know, like where does your where does humor play in your life? Like were you always the class clown? Were you always making people laugh? Like how when were you? At what point on the timeline will you mark where your journey starts with comedy? I'm gonna say, you know, probably that you know that that seventh seventh grade lunch room cafeterias area where we all kind of started to identify ourselves as you know, like your own personality, but you know you also got to stand up against, you know, the the larger group, right. And I came from a small town at that time. I used to live in a little small town called Ruthsbille, Missouri, and moved to Saint Louis. So I'll was like the kind of the new kid. But you know, I lived in a household, my single parent HOUSEO me and my mom. But like my uncle was and my cousin's they was funny, Like I got like one uncle that's just was one of these funny personalities, just always say it funny things. And I think that that was you know, that place where you see it, you see it U that environment where you like, you know, somebody that's always gonna walk in the room and everybody can't wait till he get there because he's gonna say something crazy, and he had a hundred of them. And so I think that even my style of comedy is more like you know somebody, you know, like somebody like a more conversational in the in my delivery, more like an uncle or a cousin. And then I had to learn how to put it on stage, you know, you know, you know, in a formulated pattern way. But but I still still more or less right jokes and come with my jokes from a point of view like slice of life, like what I would say in a circumstance. At this point in your career, how do you work stuff out? I mean because you've you know, you've done stadiums and stuff. So yeah, you go to just kind of you know, when you need to work your ideas out. Yeah, I got a couple of comedy clubs I'd like to work out, usually up north, Like I'll go up to h you know, like Sacramento, you know that kind of area, or it's a little club outside of Oakland. That's one of my favorite clubs to go work out is in Pleasanton, California. So I would go in there and just you know, do multiple shows, and that's usually where I'm trying to like write jokes and try new things out. But I'll also do it on the big stage. You know. I've kind of gotten to the point to where if I think I know what the joke is, I'll just do it, like right there in front of people, like just try it, Okay, answer this question to me about or how they would at least, So you're about maybe the six or seventh comedian that I've heard that will mention a place outside of Los Angeles is yeah. So. But the thing is is that when I'm on so I'm currently right now in on Sunset Boulevard, you know, the comedy store is always crowded, and all the comedy clubs up here, who's working out there? If none of the heavy hitters that I know are working out in Los Angeles, like I always hear like, oh there's like an out the way comedy club, like yeah, a hundred miles away. Is it that there's a fear that a writer or somebody's gonna take your joke or whatever or yeah, is that that? That's one thing in in in la Is is a lot of comedians here trying to find themselves, get put on of course, looking for a discovery, and so that's where they kind of work out, you know, all the kind of guys that is trying to make it happy. And there's some people who you know definitely have you know, like their brands already, you know, say like a Dray or somebody like that. They they work out here and they have their own rooms and that works, you know for them. But you know, most comedians we try not to be inside that one. I try not even hear other people's material so that I don't even you know, get influenced by nothing. So I'll try to go like you know, outside of la and it's usually just better. The audiences are you know, a little more regular people with jobs, you know, and it's kind of like the to your point, is that that middle of America audience that you're looking for. But in California, where it's close to go to work, when you go to Hollywood, you got you know, you got the people that want to be seen trying to be seen, and it's that vibe, you know, So it's it's like, you know, you gotta almost wear a full Vasacchi outfit to go and do shows. They're like, you know that you gotta be jest as shop is everybody who coming out, you know, like it's an old look at the drill. So how how is how is uh lost? Or Hollywood divided? Like I know how New York is where a lot of the alternative medians are either Brooklyn only or maybe part of the village. And then kind of the more established ones, you know, they'll go to the comedy cellar in the West Village and kind of work their way up in the midtown Manhattan and usually like the Vegas level of comedians or whatever are just like kind of midtown to uptown. And then I mean, at one point I knew that there was a place where black comedians to work out way uptown. I don't know if it's still that way now, but for those that are of the comedy act theater set, like they work out because I'd never see you guys at like it's still kind of an apartheid in terms of yeah, a little bit, I mean, you know, it's definitely you know, like chocolate Sundays, which is at you know, the laugh Factory, and that's a Sunday night kind of thing. That's where the black comics go to workout in Hollywood Hood at the at the Laugh Factory on Sunday nights. Uh Comedy Store usually all have a night or two where everybody kind of goes up in there in pop So almost all the clubs got like a night where a black night to night where you know, and if you want to work out with your people's that's where you go. And then you know, and then it's a it's a few like in La like it's you know, it used to be one down like on Pico near that Roscoes down there. I can't think of the name of it right now. I don't even know. It's hard for him to survive after COVID too, like you know, it was. You know, that's one of the things because to your point, even the bigger comedians where people can draw a name and you know, and and these these these kind of locations can do well they have them, they find themselves struggling just to keep it packed, you know. But you know, it's again it's a lot of comedians, so and there's a lot of comedians that's you know, want to get on stage and work that that are dope. You know. So I think that, you know, those are the kind of those are the kind of spots that still need a lot of love and support, uh you know. And usually I'll go by when somebody like like you know, whether a friend of mine want me to really come through, like and something like that. I might pop up and say, right, cool, marble stage for a few minutes. But I don't really work out like that much that like when I'm in La because between the TV show and being a family man, when I go, I don't really want to just hang out and be like, you know, doing the old school way. I'll be wanting to go in and do my business and break out, you know. So it is jfny Brown's place still open. I've been meeting the check on that place. Yeah, I don't know, Like again that was a spot that was again had a lot of love A lot of residents would I would think so, but I hadn't heard. I saw Jay not too long ago and I didn't even ask him about the club. But but it seems as though it's still alive because it's right near soup, snoop dogs, kind of bigbody going to hang out. Yeah, so can I go back real quick? Because the mere talked about Saint Louis, But I just I really want to get into Saint Louis a little bit because you said you're from how do you pronounce it in Carthur? I couldn't say it to thee yea. So can you break down what's the different what's the distance between Carruthersville and Saint Louis and the differences. So Grugsville is like a super small town. It's like and it's it's probably four hours. It's three and a half hours from Saint Louis and probably an hour and ten minutes from Memphis. So it's like going south, like so we go, you go down to south from Saint Louis and you go towards Arkansas and Tennessee and it's right in a booth hill. So and it's a small town, probably three thousand people, three thirty's very different. Yeah, yeah, you're very different, very segregated, you know, uh, you know it. But it's on the river. It's on the Mississippi River, So where you know where I prayed when I framed the book. In the forties, the river the river boat cities were very thriving because people traveled on the river a lot and they would stopping, they would eat and come to hang out, and so these were like really kind of bustling little small towns and so, uh you know, would have thriving downtown and restaurants and all that stuff. So uh so that's where I kind of, you know, tell that story around where my grandparents lived there, but you know, I grew up there as well. What was what was the impetus of starting or for you to go into storytelling and write in your first novel. Well, you know, for me, it really kind of stemmed from the idea that I was I was trying to I was first of all, I was trying to like just kind of have this connection to my my family. Right, Like I grew up my mother was single parents and when she raised me and my sister, and so I didn't really have my male figures around. I knew my dad, but he wasn't really in our life, and so oftentimes, you know, my mom would say, you, you know, that's like my daddy would do that. My daddy would have done this, and he had passed before where I was ever born, so, you know, and listening to stories about him, I started to wonder like, uh, like, what was my connection to somebody I never met before? Like what was that DNA? That kind of led to me being very entrepreneurial kind of a person that didn't want to work inside the lines like I even though I had my degree, I never wanted to have a job. Like my mom used to be like, why don't you just work at that company. I was like, I don't. I don't want to go to work every day. But that's not who I am. She was like my dad. It was like my dad, you know. So you know, it was that kind of thought process. So I started to create the character based off me having these machinations who he was. And then and then you know, I started to write a TV story about it. Uh that kind of felt like Boardwalk Empire. I always kind of loved that that character, Chalky White, because in a way, the way way yeah way, uh way my mom would describe and he was kind of the the the the de facto mayor of the black side of town. He was the guy that you call to get things done and all that stuff. He was plugged in with the sheriff, and so I basically put all that kind of stuff in the book and me had told this fictional tale about who he is to the seat of the start for you in the pandemic. No, you know, actually it was a little bit before that. It was so interesting that, you know, because uh it was it was times when I was kind of transitioning from uh, you know, like you know, movies. I was doing a lot of movies in the early two thousands, you know, and then my kids started to get to get older where they couldn't travel and they couldn't come with us because most of the movies weren't doing them in la anymore. And so they were younger, they can come with me, but we would shooting movies in Toronto and you know, and in Vancouver and then Ireland, and you know, when when they were younger my family could come with me. Then they started to get their own schedules, and so I was trying to figure out, like how I could still be a part of the family structure and being part of lifely without giving that up. I decided to do television, and that was when it was like, you know, it was kind of like, you know, consider a fallback. If you do television, you was you wasn't as hot as a movie star. So and it's instantly with streaming and stuff that everybody can change. You got Yellowstone, you got movie stars coming to TV now, so you know. But but it's like but at that time, it was like a real, you know, real hard move. And I had to make that kind of strategy. And I started to think about like stuff that my will pop in my head, like what would my Grandpather do in this situation? And so I started writing the ideas down back then, and then you know, the book kind of came uh as I was trying to you know, kind of shape the show. Then the opportunity for me to do the book because you know, you know, the neighborhood was doing well, and suddenly everybody started offering you all kinds of stuff. Then they like, hell, you want to do a book? You know? I was like, I was like, yeah, but not no book about me being a stand up and telling you my kind of doctor dot story. I got a whole another idea and when I did, they loved it. And that was it so that I was glad that it took. It took it like a year and a half to really kind of shape it up, though, So let me ask, because you know, one, we had a pandemic, but what we're kind of going through right now as we speak is kind of pandemic two point zero for anybody that's kind of a professional in the industry. So let me ask you, is there ever? Okay, So let me let me phrase it. America Ferreira when she started her Ugly Betty series, she told me that she waited. You know, it was an instant hit out the box, and she told me that she wanted to wait till the third season before she felt safe enough to like put down on that house. And really, you know, for it, it's a point where you go from like living in that little apartment that you lived and until you find that hit sitcom and then you really want to make sure that you're contracting, your money's right and all that stuff. So she said, Okay, I'm gonna wait until my third season, and you know, she nominated for Emmy, So it just seemed like, okay, plamo instant hit. And then after season three they were like, all right, well that's it. You're done knowing what you've been through, and you know, you're you're famous for the joke of you guys not getting the cake. You know, other shows you've been one that got canceled without warning, no no cake or anything. So now that you're on like an established network, uh comedy show, Like, do you always feel safe or is there a part of you that's always like, nope, let me have my plan B, C and D, like just in case you never know. Definitely mean, I learned that a long time ago, because it's such a fickle business. Like none of us really saw like this strike coming, if you will, but you do reckon eyes that you know, ratings or what's hot or something new comes along. Uh, this this town just really fickle like that, Like you know, so whatever the latest crazy is, they'll just figure out like, oh we're gonna change to that now, and you'll be like what happened? You know. So I'm definitely I'm definitely far more cautious about you know, like just being you know, being super confident that whatever I'm working, even though it is working, that it's gonna always work, you know. I mean, we we we We've been ordered for the sixth season. So that's a real blessing theoretically, Yeah, for the neighborhood. Theoretically, I'd like to go to eight. You know, I like to go and be like yeah, yeah, but you know, like shows like Blackish and you know, other kind of black shows of that. I feel like our elkpeed degree that's been on like major network should have the opportunity to run all the way out, like tell your full story, you know, and so you know and then you know. But also like now as a producer, I'm creating uh, you know, spinoffs and other versions so again that you have the show live beyond it's it's it's years and so these are the things that I try to like like even negotiate for. While I know that my show is doing well, I'm like, hey, give me the spinoff so that I can like turn my show into another show that can run another you know, you know, five six years that you know, I can be eating off of and then do something else too. I should see that with your sons, the sons, yea. So for me, there's there's a myth in the music business where they say, like all it takes is one hit and you're set for life, which is kind of a truth and a lie. I mean, in other words, like it ain't true today, right, yeah, yeah, but you know, I'll say hip hop has definitely changed everyone's lifestyle goals. So in other words, if I were the writer, okay, so if I was one of the writers of Queens under Pressure at the time when Vanilla I sampled it and you know, sold ten billion copies, you know, that's a nice check that I'm gonna get every year and if I maintain my lifestyle. But if you know, if I'm pursuing a five million dollar lifestyle and I'm only getting a million dollar check, then like you're asked out. But the equivalent of that in the television world is when your show gets syndicated, is that the goal, like ken one actually like for now, like for any act or any actor actress that is on a show that's syndicated and currently running right now, I'm certain that those checks are helping a lot, while your current shows not only but is indicated money still good. No, not anymore. It's very much, very parallel to like you said, it's music business. I mean it used to be and probably and to some degree, one of the big reasons why we're striking too is that you know, new forms of media screaming all these all these companies kind of being yeah, being mixed in together. They protect themselves, you know, like I mean, CBS is a part of pair of my PARAMT plus uh. And then of course the whole you what used to be Viacom all their channels, so they will syndicate to they will syndicate to themselves, and and of course that'll ruin them, ruin the money that used to be available right sore. And it's internal and it's internal business. And and they basically tell you that these are these are internal numbers. This is what we're doing to protect our assets. So that's that's the scary part. Said, I had just listened about that, and I was we were just talking about this before you came on, and we were talking about how like, so if you're on TV and you do syndication, because I think a lot of times we need to explain it to the people who actually watch TV. They don't know the intricacies of this language a lot of times, and so the TV versus I was just watching the actor from Breaking Back saying that like he's on Netflix and breaking backs on Netflix, and that is zero money that he receives from that versus maybe it was on an actual network on TV, it would be a more yeah, yeah, like I mean the opportunities. You know, we used to have this thing like where you go like and I say most people would understand, like the Channel nines or Channel thirteens in your local city and you see something that come on after the evening news. You get to watch everybody Little Raymond or friends all this. That's where the money it's because you gotta think it's one of those in every little town and they all got to buy it in a way as a part of a group or individual, and so it's being sold that many times right every episode, and so so that's when they're buying it. But like a Netflix will just take it and and then they they're a technology company, so they're not a broadcast company, so they don't have to even reveal what numbers they because yeah, it's like it's technology. I don't know, like I don't know, I don't know, it's one of them. It's one of the striking points to finally reveal that, yeah, that's that's that's one of the real kids to put to push towards it, because really what happened is not even that we didn't know is that we need to be able to have the kind of uh, you know, transparency because what they did is now is they kind of take your intellectual property by not revealing it because they do do original programming, because they do have people create things for them. And then you don't have to basically tell me what it is, right, I can I can pay you one time and and you can have a hot show and I don't have to really ever reveal to you how hot that show was, Like I don't have to ever say it was, but I paid you, and you know, and their things that usually they paid more than what people used to get paid. So that's how they won for so many years because they would pay you a larger premium. So to be on Netflix was that good bag, right, it was that fat bag and nobody really cared. Like you know, if if I would get thirty thousand on a regular show, Netflix might give me one hundred and fifty and you'd be like, give me that, right, but they might have made two million and you anyway, yeah, you never know, you never bothered the ass, and it didn't it didn't really get you know, it didn't get important until shows got bigger and bigger, and you started to realize, like, oh, that's really all were watching is Netflix a lot? Now? You know, and and and Prime and Hulu. We only watching these shows. Now, where's the money. So that's why I say your pivot is more brilliant than it looks, right, because not for nothing do you feel like your business is changing in a major way. I tell them. I sent the music people. I was like, we used to be like, wait till I get to TV and film, that's where the big money is. Everything's becoming the music business now like yeah, movie, No, it's so true. I was gonna say it looked like it's like every business looked at the music industry and was like, yo, they don't pay nobody, why should we exactly? And that's it. And you and you think it was the digital the digital trash platform that really changed the music business, when you know, when Stament came in the napster of it all and people started to be and that changed the whole model. And that and that Netflix and Amazon basically changed the model for us. Like once they got really hot and locked in and then was able to create and become the it, then everybody else wanted to be them, So you think about it, Disney became Disney plus, Paramount became Paramount plus the Peacock on NBC. Everybody took streamers so that they can do their model. They don't want to have to pay and they I was just gonna say, I just get really sad by watching it because I come from a business that used to be called black radio and nobody noticed when we kind of got eaten up by a thing called podcast. So I watch y'all industry and I'm like, oh, I mean, I watch our because this is something that I wanted to participate in as well. But it's scary. It's a little scared. I'm glad that you have made this pivot to the novel. That's literally yeah, because you are on a hit show and I've seen a few people in the comedy world. I'm bringing it back to clubbing and working out that you know, you want to work out in the gym, work out new material. But the more you're established in your comedy show, it's like, the less that you are working out your material on stage, does that worry you a little bit? Like, I mean, assuming that stand up is your first love, even though you're doing these other things. But I mean, if it were all up to you to choose one medium, would you just choose acting or stand up or you know that's interesting thing. I mean, I think stand up is the freest. You know, I always say that, you know, I just I did some shows this weekend. I went and did a casino in Oklahoma. And that's the really great thing about being a live performer is that we have so many like difference. But you've got comedy clubs, you got all these casinos across the country. Now you know the whole Indian casino run. You got the big casinos, you got you know, big venues. You know, if we if I decided to do it like a larger tour with some of my friends, like we did this summer with like uh straight jokes, no chases with me and Mike Evson, DL and DC Young Fly. We was able to go and do arenas and it was fun and we rocked that all the way to May and then went on a break because music, mainly the music acts killed the summer. We you know, we learned a long time before you would stand up. Don't you go out there against beyond. You can't win against Beyond and yeah, and you don't. So we we stopped out two in May and we'll pick it back up in October, late October, November. So I mean, but that's kind of what we've learned as stand ups over the years. It's like, get out the way of the uh, the big music. Actually they gonna murder you and murder every ticket in the area and so and so you so you're like, all right, cool, but uh but but you know, again, I was able to go and do a casino because it's kind of an enclosed audience, you know, you can go and or the casino gonna market to their people and they're gonna say, hey, said coming. And I'm able to go and do two thousand and three thousand seats, you know, two nights in a row on my own. Like so that's that's a beautiful thing, right. So I respect to stand up, and I stayed with it. You know, I've been my whole career. I've never really ever given it up. You know, I've known I've known comedians that, you know, you may get on television or you start making it in the movies and you kind of give up on it or you feel like you don't have to do it anymore. But it is the it's the dojo. It's the place where even if I'm gonna write a movie or be in a movie, I like to go do stand up before you even start the movie because it helps you. It helps you kind of start your engine on your comedy vibration. Like, if I got a character or something I'm trying to do, I'd rather just go do some stand up in a small place for a little bit, just to get get my energy going. So like, all right, cool, when I come to set, I'm gonna be funny as this character. Like I know, there's the hot ten and sometimes there's the hot twenty. If Chappelle asks you to do something whatever, But when you are, like, are you the type of person that has to ramp your way up to you know, seventy five ninety whatever the time is for like Netflix specials or HBO specials and whatnot? Is it yew? How hard is it ramping up to that? Especially with I guess I'm asking you if are you operating in the same way that MC operates, Like you know, like obviously, uh, you can take Fonte or even Tariq from the roots. Those both you know, very capable, excellent MC's, but this is kind of a new battleground, if you will, with new rules and MC's today don't relate to the you know, or do you have the same process as yesterday's m C. Is it that way for the for the comedy world or is it still about for you a punchline? Chris Rock told me that he doesn't believe in a punchline anymore, which kind of shocked me. So yeah, I mean, you know, it is it is a little different. I definitely think that new comedy has kind of removed the idea of punchlines. You know, like people are more like into like trying to deliver. You know, I think I think after Chappelle here, everybody just want to be prolific man, Like everybody want to try like trying to deliver like they you know, these brilliant Squire people. And that's just him, Like he he got a totally different brand than everybody, right, So read you know, yeah, yeah, yeah, a lot of people. A lot of people don't read, and then they want to be out there talking about the next saying smart stuff. But you know, like you like, bruh, where do you get that from? So, but I think that the I think that for you know, for me, like the idea of like even even thinking about delivering a special like I really I'm probably one of the one comics that take a lot of time between my specials because I have material that I feel like makes a special. But you know, I'm also not a person that's very interested in just kind of throwing stuff out there. You know, I think people use it for a number of different reasons. One, you know, you might have the deal on the table, right they might say, hey, cool, were throwing the bag at you put this special out, and you'll see people go do it just just so they could get the money right. And then and then you have people that really feel like they got something to say right now, and then you know they'll put those specials out. But I think in the last couple of years, you know, for me, it's all about like just making sure that my my material, my personality, what it is that I want to say is all in tune with the brand I built over thirty years. So I'm not gonna just go out there and just take like little chance. I think y'all like that too, as far as the roots going as far as my opinion, like y'all y'all, y'all look curators of y'all, of y'all brand like in a real way. When we was watching on stage the other night, me and my wife was saying the same things, like nobody has the ability that I entertained like they do. Like you know, you'll see the new people like that, you know, kind of come out and maybe have a band on stage with them. But it's like the combination of musicality, real professionalism, and and something you know you're gonna get when you spend your money, right, I know it's gonna be lit. I got it right now. I know, like going to Masstros or a quality restaurant where you know it's gonna be good. I don't have to worry about it, like it's good. So that's when I try to deliver when I'm when i'm you know, and I'm doing specials or anything. So I've I'm never in a big hurry to just throw out anything. You're not putting any pressure on me whatsoever for my future in music. He's saying, do what you continue to do? What to do? Yeah, I'm really just shocked that no one's really done a concentrated study on how you your whole clique and Walter Latham kind of yeah, built the brand and built you guys up. So can you just talk about that that that initial period of Yeah, a matter of fact, it is Walters still active in terms of throwing shows or not that I know of. I think did he tried to do some stuff on the internet not too long ago, or try to like create some brand where he was like taking you know, using like young comedians and kind of using his kings of comedy, uh, you know, pedigree do things for people. But I think it all kind of burnt out him from my opinion. But you know, he was he was just he was a he was a young creative uh you know, show promoter at the time, and he was he was just one of these guys that had like you know, he was aggressive and young and had good ideas and a lot of heart and so he he he would do all of us individually. He d Steve, uh you know, and you know these would be theaters shows, you know, small theaters, and he did Steve and then he did Bernie. Then he did Steven Bernie one time he would do DL and I together. He was the one when when I became the host of Comic View, Dale used to be the host, and he put us together and called it, you know, the host of the host of BT or something like that, and put us together and we were able to go out together and do these tours. So I think it's inside of that space where he looked at his numbers and saw like, all these guys were doing these numbers in these individual situations. What if I put him all together, I probably could do it, Arena. And so that's really how the Kings of Comedy came about. He it was it was his idea. He kind of called us, put us together, put the two together. But I do think that in the process of that, he started to think he was the other Kings of comedy. And so it's like his own hubrists kind of got in the way. And then you know, it was it was after the show and in the movie came out that you know, there was so many little things that he just was Nobody wanted to be in business with him no more. So that was it. But he you know, he didn't do the Queens. He didn't do the Queens. He did do the queens, you know, the Kings, the Kings, Ye had the Kings and Queens, but he he had that Kings and Queen's title and uh, and then he did a few other ones. He did a couple of tours after, but nothing to the magnitude of the Kings of Comedy and the Queens of Comedy? Is that? Is that the original roster? I just wanted to know. I always wanted to know, But the Kings of Comedy? Was there ever somebody that was wanted originally? Or Dad got dropped off of the list? No, deal wasn't. It started out just me, Steve and Bernie, and then then they added DL and then that that became the one that you know that really toured around and got hot. Yeah. So yeah, we started out just the three of us. We got Tori, got Tori with him c H and had a night popping. When you're doing that, like who's determining like the order of things and who's the or at least the curation of it all, it would be it's it's usually the comedians, I mean, on a tour like that, we decide and it's and it's usually you know, usually an honor or respect thing, you know, depending on you know, who's on the tour, like usually people just kind of you know, give props to you know, whoever the og is and be like, yo, you go last if you want to. But on our tour, I remember like Bernie was the dude. Like Bernie was the dude. But Bernie wanted he called it the hammock. He didn't want to. He didn't wanna go first and didn't want to go last. He went to lay in the hammy. Yes, so so lasting firsts, the penultimate, right before last. That's the sweet spot, yeah, exactly so. So you know, even on the special it looked like Bernie god last, but when we actually shot it, he was. He was in the hammock. He did not go last. At night it was the I would last and and he would uh. But on the special, the way to edit work, it was better for him to go last for the movie of it off. But but he performed in his hammock. There's that's what he liked. It was like, that's why I want to be And he had been out, you know, I got it. He had been out like Bernie that got hot before the rest of us, and he had did like big tours on his own. And so when he decided to do the Kings. He was just like, look, man, I already been out like as a big star, already touring. I like the idea this, but you know again, we're doing thirty forty minute sets. Let me let me ride easy. So I got it, And so that became. That became a thing that a lot of comics like to do to this day. Like you say and me, like, we all like to we like to go in that spot right before last. It's it's just less pressure. You could kill it and you could be gone, be like yo, dude somehow like and and if and if you don't kill it, then you know, somebody else coming behind you and everybody could have a good time and they ain't gonna blame you. Yeah, they're gonna blame you that the show was bumb ass or whatever. But so you know you so but uh, but it's usually a respect thing. It's usually the comics deciding where everybody want to go according to who we feel, you know, deep deserves that that reverence or whatever. You know, how involved were you guys working with Spike and feeling that was it he got a hands on with you guys, or he just let you'all No, it was a it was a you know, it was a one We all made a choice that you know, because we were trying to find somebody to direct the movie. We had. It was it was our choice. We were all partners on the movie. And uh, Spike you know, came up of course, presented the idea that he wanted to do it, and I mean he was the most expensive one to make our partner, but we also knew that it was the best move to get a movie. It's you know, the kind of create the kind of cred that we wanted. And and then you know, he Spike Lee. He really loved comedy, He loved he loved the idea of being He came, I think we had did Radio City Music called. He came and watched this, came backstage, talked about it. He just super hyped. And we was like, yeah, this would be crazy, this Spike does this movie. So you know, and it just ended up being the right move for us. And again, you know, we knew that when you bring Spike on, you know, he gonna cut into the money, like all the money that we could have gotten for use it. You know, you could have used Billy Woodroofe for somebody you know, go right, hey, wait, can I gotta ask you because from a fan perspective for y'all those fellas, two questions Number one, I just gotta know how you preserve Bernie in your heart and also like the relationship with you and these men, like how do y'all make sure that y'all continue to nurture it? Oh? D yeah, for sure it. I mean, you know, I just did in my golf tournament, my celebrity tournament, charity tournament last year, both Steve and DL came. Uh you know. Of course me and DL we probably we see each other most because our wives are friends, like real friends, So we see each other a lot, you know, go to dinner and hang out, uh, you know, and then we tour a lot of much a lot too, like all the kind of big arena tours I've been on, DL being a part of them, so you know, we got that kind of brotherhood. And then be back and just one of these guys man that you know, whenever we you know, we always related to the kings of comedy, and so you know, almost in any interview, every situation, he's gonna come he's gonna come up and be a part of it. But he you know kind of like what Quest was saying about is like certain jokes U. So he just got so many cash phrases that all of us that that day I go to for regular regular life. You know, if somebody say something off you know, off kilter, then you know we're gonna pull out of Bernieism. You know. It's like they just a part of like the part of like how we made up, especially by being with him so much on the tour. You know, like he would he just have a hunt him. You don't on a fifty yard line, but it's first didn't Gold, you know, you'd be like what you know what that means? That means that's wherever I am in life. I'm out here trying to win, and I believe I can win. At this point, I'm on the fifty yard line before him. It's first in Gold. And I was like, Dick and I love that one right there, Like so you know, that's that's be back, that's his kind of language. I wanted to ask you about two of my most favorite roles that you have done, Gusts Pitch and Jazz D. Yeah, gust Pitch was and jazz D was was top five top rock movie, both of both of um was like these sleeper movies. Man that I was always really really good, you know, really less to be a part of these like moves like one the Guts. Petch was like just this fun character because it was like, yo, you did to be in a movie with George Clooney and capt Zada Jones and uh, you know just the character you did? You did detective and it was the Cohen Brothers. Yeah, what was it like? Please? Because that was really it was an unconventional film for what they normally kind of do. Yeah, you know, late they you know, they're you know, they're super artists, so you know, and they're very eclectic and different. Of course, you know, Joel is you know, probably a little bit more talkative and then Ethan is kind of like, you know, laid back and so but they were both like they both like really enjoyed what I was bringing to the character. So like once they kind of recognized like what I was gonna do and what I was doing as a character, then it was like really fun. They just kind of embraced so many things that like choices that I kind of wanted to make as the guy. But I think you had to kind of earn that with them, like, you know, because they are very specific to their vision. You know. That was the one thing and I think that with that particular movie, to your point, it was a little outside their normal thing of what they were, what they kind of normally do, so they they kind of trusted, you know. I would think about even like what Jeffrey Rush did in that movie and all those kind of things and Billy Bob, Billy Bob, you know, like all these kind of things. They people did different little you know, character choices, and I think they they they kind of opened up and like, yeah, you know what, all right, tried it, you know, so I think yeah. And then uh, and then with Top five, you know that was Chris Rock. He was directing, Uh, he had written the movie. He was you know, he was directing the film. And he you know, he he a brother, right even you know, he my comedic brother. So we we've been knowing each other many years and toured been on day together. And when he told me what the character was, I was like, say less man Like he was like, you know, it's the it's the dude that you know that when we when we started coming up the dude that and promised you all this stuff and you know, yeah, I'm sending the limo for you. Don't worry about it. I got you in the dope hotel. You could this, I do it. Trust me. I'm the man in Houston. And I was like, oh, I'll say less if I if I ain't met this dude a hundred at thirty times exactly who he is. The whole scene came back to me. But Carl read and all the stuff. Yes, yes, son, that person speaks Yeah. Me getting them hangers, that was like, that's like the real thing because you realize, like people are always killing the wooden hangers from the hotels, and they got good wooden hangers. You're like, oh man, they got the lock on them. Yeah, they got the lock on the Oh the hangers are two piece now I'm here. Oh dog, I thought it was the only person that that did that. All my good hangers at home. Yeah the world boy, Yeah, yeah, yeah, the good the good hangers. You go in the hotel, they got the good angers you like, they got they about to get got that's a rat. Yeah. I was gonna, well, I'm adding onto what they said. You get character actor roles, but you are not a character actor, like everyone knows who you are. So how did you how did you nuance that in starting your first movie? Was right? Was it not? Yeah? Yeah, first movie was right? Uh you know, and I think you know that was That was the one thing I think, like even my stand up early on, I used to I used to do a lot of characters on stage and like you know, like act out things fully. So in my mind, I just kind of transitioned the idea that you know, where I would write a joke, I would try to develop a character, so you know, like like the like the old man in the barber shop, that was choice. Yeah, like Eddie was a choice. Like they wanted me to play a different role. And I was like, nah, I want to be the old man. And I remember everybody was like, well, we want to cast the real old man. And I was like, well, just let me let me read it. Let me just show you what I'm gonna do with it. But I had this guy like that there was a combination of a dude at my mom's church and somebody else, and it was this home beat of like who this dude was. I knew exactly who he was. And so I got to the point I could do Eddie. I didn't even need dialogue, like you just giving your circumstances and Eddie just gonna come out of me, like I know the stuff people say, and it was just that. And so the directors started seeing that and they was like, all right, cool, No that was before we even shot. So when they gave me the character that was that was great for me. And that was really one of those transitional spots because that that kind of like you know, really like changed me from being just a character actor in the movie that people saying, all right, cool, you can lead a movie. And so I started to get other little movie role Johnson Family and honey Mooners and little things. But I loved doing to your question quest. I loved like getting like just great little character roles that like show up in the movie with the with the right people, you know, and where you can just come in and still scenes and and and and then and this burnout like those are fun to me. I think I always loved like, uh, like when don Cheatle did Devil in the Blue Dress, like Mouse, you know, we yeah, we loved we learned this zel, but Mouse was like he was just he wasn't all through the movie, but he was like where a mouse said, give me more mouse. I wanted to say that character. There has never been a moment said when you walked on the set and felt and intimidated in that way. No, I mean, you know, like uh, you know like that that that the first scene in in in Teller Cruelty. I had to do a scene with George Clooney like the first day I got there, and you know, it was one of those things and knowing like he was Clooney at the time, and you know, and you just kind of want to do the right thing and you just you know, so, but I never I never really got small. I just was very careful, right like you kind of like more careful, like making sure you know, you know, and I knew the Cohen Brothers was a big deal. And it's all these things where you just want to be like, I don't want to be this guy to come in and like act like these people not a big deal, and then you find out like, oh that was offensive or whatever. So that's the that's the young virgin. But you know, I always kind of was confident, you know who I was and what I was coming there to do, so I just leaned into that more than anything. Did they know who? Because as your fans, did they know who you were? I just always been curious about that, like you step on that Cohen Brothers. Did George Clooney know, like I'm a king Clooney did? But I think the Cohen Brothers really knew. I think they knew like at once they kind of got into casting and I had to kind of go there a couple of times and then they you know, and a rehearse, so then they kind of realized like, oh, oh you like really that dude, But yeah, like people will come see this movie for you like that? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, But I don't think they knew that right away. Are you still in the occasional audition phase? Or is it I once said the entertainer, and you don't here's the script tell me or not? Now? I will? I will always, you know, I tell teams that sometimes people don't they don't see me or you know, see me in a certain role. So if I must audition, if it's something I like and I want to do and I must audition, I will. I definitely prefer to be offered, you know what. I mean, you know, but but it's certain roles, like it was a role that came up. I don't even know if they ever shot this project, but it was a role that came up and it was a cool like you know, Apple TV series, and it was it was something that I wanted to do. Was very liking it to the character in my book, and I don't think anybody would have saw me as this character. But I was already kind of on this journey and when I saw the breakdown, I was like, Yo, give me an audition, like I want to go in. And then I had a long you know. Because of that, I was able to have go along way with the directors and the producers. But I'm not sure what direction it when I've never seen the project come out. So but I know I didn't get the role, but I did. I did open the conversation up once they saw like what I could do, then people started to be like it became a little more real, and you know, by doing the audition, so I wasn't afraid for that. Like those kind of things make sense. Was there a role that you passed up that you later had a regret about doing? I e. Will Smith passing up on the matrix matrix man, let me see, not necessairly. I know that I had the opportunity to do like Mike, uh that movie like Mike, but it was also at the same time that I could do Barbershop, and I felt like I made thee But I just remember it was a bigger money play and you know, and my team was like, Yo, you're gonna get paid over here. This a big movie. And then the other one was a small movie and I was like, noah, but that became a franchise. Yeah, exactly, exactly smarter moves. So I was trying to think of like ones where I didn't where I kind of passed up that I didn't get. Uh uh, nothing really comes to mind that I was like, Yo, I'm you know, I kind of regret I didn't get that one man talk about threats. The jay Z atually have something in common sort of yeah yeah, a sixty degree separation way with the threats to yeah yeah, yeah, yeah yeah yeah, So uh yeah, I was you know, I've seen Jay like, you know, throughout my career many times, and so I just told him one time, I was like, Yo, but I'm in New York. I want to see you work and I come to the studio. Everybody told me about you know, the rain Man thing he does and how he just kind of ride to move and I just asked him could I come to the studio and he was like, yeah, no doubt. So I go one time. He's there. Were in the studio and everybody just kind of hanging out and he's like, I gotta leave. I gotta go and run some errands. But I'm working on this this threat situation. I'm working on this thing. And he was like, it's on it's own, like some mad rapper type stuff, and you can just throw something out there let me know, you know, And so he literally left. I think it was ninth and uh it was ninth. Guru was there and I just kind of like went in and just started freestyling it. And then he called me maybe a few months later. It was like, hey, man, you made the album. I was like what He was like, Yo made the album. I was like, oh man, that was crazy. It was the black album. So it made you feel like, yo, it wasn't. You was just a part of like, you know, super history, and so I was I was really happy to be a part of that. You know, and kind of the same thing on the Nellyville on Country grandmar that was d Ray doing. Damn, I did not know that was d Y Yeah, yeah, d right doing. Oh that wasn't Bernie mac all right? Talented? I know, I do you know? Yeah? Yeah, you live seeing you at this at this stage in your life. Is there any is there anything that you have yet to achieved that you have like as a bucket list, do you feel like now's the time for you to just get your bucket list dorn and start green lighting your own projects and whatnot, Like what do you Yeah, that's kind of really the space I'm in now, you know, of course, like the strike really really teaches you that too, like you can't always kind of like you know, expect that you will have time or that everything that you want to do will just show up when when you need to. And so, you know, I felt like, you know, I definitely want to get back into the movie space, like in the starring role parts, you know, I get looking for those. So that's are the right movies that you know that I feel like makes sense for me. Uh And then dramas and Tom said, yeah, exactly, I think you're too more So to your question questions that it is dramas that I feel like people hadn't necessarily see me really stick my foot in something, right, you know I did. I did that first Reformed with Ethan hog that was out last year. Really you know, really moved with Paul Schrader, great director, you know, and Ethan hoger Man the Safetree, small kind of an archie film. It was. It was a dramatic role. We got some nominations, we got some looks, you know, but again, it wouldn't be something that black people would go see, I don't think right away. Uh so and get people said you're not mine less exactly we get so true, I was gonna throw that out there. Yes, that's our quest goes maybe you know, yeah, I would see it. Yeah, No, it is. It's a great film because again, dynamic actors in there. Uh and it's you know, kind of uniquely done, very quiet movie. You know a lot of you know, all about the words, all about the emotion. I forgot that's a style that's called like transcendental or something like that. So it's a it's a stylid movie shooting. But you know, that's that's that's pretty much what I would say, Bucket Liz. I'm looking for a character or a series or something I can stick my teeth into where people can see me be a little more dramatic in my in my play, you know, I want. I can't believe my very first question to you that I didn't ask, and it looks like it's gonna be my last question to you. How did you come up with your moniker? I do not know the story of how you became Cedric the entertainer. Oh oh wow, Oh yeah, that's a that's a that's a crazy story that that story really kind of really kind of came from. I always say it was me trying to it's fairly certain deipities. It was the idea that I didn't want to be. I got very popular in Saint Louis, right, a lot of people. I was doing comedy. People knew me. I would call into the radio, I would get booked. But I didn't have a lot of jokes. I would you know, I had, you know, ten minutes worth of jokes, and then so to get really paid, you have to do at least thirty minutes forty minutes on stage. So I would sing. I sing a whole Luther song, I do a poem. I'd do a dance routine. I do a whole bit about being on Soul Train, and I played like nine songs so I could do the different dances. I would fill up my time. And so one night it was a guy, you know, just kind of introducing everybody. He kept saying, this next comedian, this next comedian, and I was like, don't call me a comedian because I don't have enough jokes to be called a comedian. Called me an entertainer, and he called me Cedric the entertainer. I went up, I rocked it, and then and when I came off, I had a stand ovation and he called me Cedric entertainer again, and I just kept it. I was like, that's the name as a comedian. I've seen you do crowd work before. Do you like doing crowd work or is it too much pressure to I'm not that fast man. I mean I could do it if it happens to be the hosting situations, which yeah, yeah, yeah, when you're hosting, you gotta you gotta be like yo, like just kind of let the room like kind of come to you. But it's not a thing that I'm very comfortable with because it promotes people talking back, you know, it promotes and I am more of a I am more of a stage a former. You don't have like five quips for a heckler just in case they want to for sure, you know, I'm ready now, like I keep I keep it locked. But but the thing is is that you know, I'm much rather when I'm on stage. I'm much rather come there for the performance. So actually some of my opening acts I would hire opening acts that our shooters. I call them shooters because they go out and make sure that audience is tightened up and in they place, I go on, no smoke, yo. I never thought that the opener yeah to sassiny any would be man. I got a dude name Malik asked from Florida. He ain't no you, no you on no smoke with this dude. He come out there, he is, he fast, and he's funny and he's raw and he's gonna be People be like, yeah, I'm good man. Never mind. And so by the time I come on stage, everybody is pretty much there to understand that I'm here to tell you some jokes and perform for you like a grown up. And you're gonna sit in your charity gonna be quiet that has a flipping box cards question. I just I wanted to know because it is a fictional story, and you said it was interested to listen to you earlier in this conversation talk about the lack of men in your life. So number one, I was curious because even though it's fictional, it seems like it is a lot of your grandfather and baby boys, right, yeah. And I was just curious how you got all of that because you didn't know him, and it's it's really from your mother. And then also since you and answer this from me too as a man who was the man in your life, because said, when we look at you, when we talk to you, you sound like such a well rounded man in so many ways to have some of the women in your life, you know. Yeah, yeah, you know, I think that that's really the thing. I kind of really feel it was a lot of kind of osmosis in a number of ways. You know, you know, because my mind, my mother and my uncle would tell me the stories of my grandfather, and then you start to emulate I think, you know, other people's fathers and the neighborhood. You know, we're just kind of talking about that when you see these young folks out here that kind of grow up and everybody kind of like you know, on the DraCos and everybody got they pants down and they want to be gangst Us. You know, you kind of see that when we grew up, our men in our neighborhood was people that was fathers. They the ones that was there. They was like taking kids to the baseball field and you had to say yes, sir to him, and you know, you didn't call you didn't call your daddy by your daddy friend by his first name. Like these kids they know people by Darnelle, now you know what I'm saying. And they don't even they don't call it man, mister, nothing and be they you know, you you literally been live in a world where these kind of these kind of you know, archaeotypes don't really exist. So for me, I think that that's really you know, one of the things that I was kind of like, you know, kind of like spending the story from. It's like this idea that I liked to wear suits, this idea that I liked to be respected and treat people with respect. That I do think that I got a responsibility to others, you know, like I recognized that and somehow, you know, my mother would say, that's who my grandfather was. Like he would do all these things. He makes sure that even though he was you know, in the underworld and he was a gambler and a hustle a bootlegger, but he kind of did all these things because that was really what was available to him. You know at the time, you know, it wasn't not true. Wait a minute, what's not true about baby boys? Because that's all this stuff, all this stuff is in there. And the restaurant owner he had the restaurant, he'd go and take care of the people out in the field. I say, he was the first dude with a food truck that would be in my mind as ball like, because he would he would take his restaurant, he'd make sandwiches and he'd go out to the fields and then people would pay a quarter for a sandwich and some water and he'd like makes sure he eat and then he he burned back out. That was that was all cash moves that he would do, likes and you know those kind of things, and so uh, you know, but he was also like a you know, extreme risk taker, which you know, in the book you find out like he took big risk and you know these sometimes they don't go your way, you know. But that's that's the that's the life of any any of us that you try to go out and you stick stick your neck out for your own ideology, right, you recognize is that at some point in time it might not go the way you think, and then you gotta you gotta deal with that those circumstances consequences. Wow, I want to ask you mentioned in earlier summer conversation about your team and kind of deciding which projects to pick the team that you have. Now, how long did it take to assemble them? I guess? And like who were who were like kind of your core people, you know, your manager pass. I've been really blessed. I've been really blessed man. I mean my core group of people with my guys that I met in college. Man, like my my manager, my partner, you know, my my production companies called a bird in a Bear. That's me and my partner, Eric Ron, He my managing, my business partner. We called him Swanny Swan you know from the Warriors, you from back into the so Yeah, we called him Swan back in the day and so and I'm SETI beart. So we're a bird in a Bear. So that's the name of our production company. But we've been together since again my college days. My tour manager and you know, creative and tour consultant he was, he was I went to junior high school with him. That's Kelvin Bland. So he a guy had been with me my whole career, like seeing me like coming come up and just you know, and he started to learn how to do lighting and learn how to make my shows more interesting and and you know, and those were the kind of things he got interested in and booking me and and so, uh that's it. And then I've been you know with my agency and my lawyers who probably a long time too, like from early on when I got my first deals. Uh you know, so I'm I'm starting to make some changes there. But well then you know, for the most part of my team is solid. And I got a new publicist not too maybe about three years ago. Uh so, but they've been great too. But I know they came through great recommendation. And so it's the same the same guy that does Eddie Murphy. He's my guy, right now, so he's dope though. Yeah, you know, I was an avid watcher of your Your Millionaire days? Is game show hosting? Like is that as fun as it seems? Or like do you have any other future plans for you know? I actually enjoyed it. You know. There was a thing about doing you know, a millionaire where you are. You know that people were coming on here and they loved these game shows and they really want to win, and it's a lot of fun to them. It's very arduous because you have to do you know, maybe you know, five and six shows in a day, like you shoot a lot, you know. We it's a very aggressive you know, because we and that was the biggest thing about it. But for me, it allowed me to live in New York for like three months. So it was great because it was a totally different experience. I you know, I was able to come and live in the city and be there. So the only reason I didn't come back and do it the second season is that they the next season is that they moved into Connecticut, way up in Connecticut, and I was like, that's that's good for me. Guys. It was like they was near they show up in Connecticut, they moved it to Connecticut. They don't know to cut the budget or make it a little bit to show state show state, Like Moray was there and Jerry was there and wow, yeah I knew for a second Tyler was there for a second, like he had a ESPN. Yeah, ESPN. But yeah, it was like that, and it was very you know, very small town field, very outside the loop, you know. And you had to be there three to four months. And I was just like, nah, you know, no, no, no. If you're living in New York doing that, then that's fun because you're in the city. You get to pop off, you finish your day, and then you go and we would shoot like Monday through Thursday, so I would have Fridays awful lot of time game show. Yeah, I'm not gonna be stuck in Bristling. That's not gonna be my move. Like I wouldn't. Before we go your barbecue man, you and Anthony Anderson, Yeah, do you like cook a lot of what's just something? No, we just got the rubs right now. Sauces, so we we the sauces are coming though, and we got we will because you know, Anthony's diabetics. So we go and make sure We're not gonna be over over the top with all our you know, sugars and all that stuff. But the idea really came from us. You know. We we all golf together, Me, Anthony, George Lopez, Don Cheet or Chris group. We all travel dl and we will travel and go and then Anthony and I would often be the ones doing the cooking, grilling, you know, cooking and making a pool for everybody because we rent our house and hanging be a fun time man. So but you know, I grilled a little bit and cook a little bit. But what we really loved about the spaces that everybody was, you know, trying to do liquors and tequilas and all that, and what we wanted to do is use our celebrity for something we thought that really was like uplifting for the community and really all thinic to who we were in the sense that barbecueing and grilling and getting together is is is black as they come, and and even more so American as it come. Like it's a this is where people fellowship. We throw the meat on, you bring the tator salad, you somebody bring the mac and cheek, and we got a meal and we gonna play cards and we're gonna laugh a little track, and we was like, yo, we can capture this as a brand. If we can capture that essence, that's what we really want to do. And that's what AC Barbecue about more than anything. We we actually feature more pit masters than we grill ourselves, so we really go around and find like people that really couldn't like put up, Like that's the kind of thing we love the fact that you you really love it, like you know, like you throw a cool barbecue at your crib or open the season, you know, and that's it. We come through pull up and like, let's talk about what you're cooking. Let's talk about the you know, the relationship if you have to why you start cooking, and in the stories and then that's what we do. And then we you know, as AC Barbecue, were out telling that story along with you know, introducing our products and uh, you know, we got We're in like twenty seven hundred walmarts right now. We got loads coming, we got home depot coming. We're doing tools, and we got spatlors and toms and all that coming. We got we got restaurants coming. We out here, we all here doing it. So we actually got the opportunity to do some restaurants on college campuses. So these are things that we all got in development. So we're working hard and making sure that we out here, you know, talking about you know, something that really started from you know, our culture really is that that idea of taking whatever we got and throwing on some hot coals and making a meal out of it. That that goes that's far backing slavery and beyond on the way to cook. So you know, but it definitely culturally a thing. But we we we love and we know that barbecue is different in different regions, and that's why we didn't want to be like, you know, you gotta do it highway. We like, we love the way you're doing. We're gonna come and show and get that love. And so that's what our show is all about too. So man, so, uh, mister Kyles, I thank you for coming on our show man talking to us. Uh about time, Like we we've been here almost what are we six years now? Almost seven? We're not gonna seven? Yeah, yeah we're not. Yeah, we're not gonna seven because you and podcast Land you're damn right were old and podcast Lane. Yeah, thank you o G. Thank you for everything you're doing for race, race relations with the neighborhood. Since we say that because y'all doing some introducing, some things, letting people know and stuff I appreciate, right that we use. Yes, that's my favorite. Say, that's my I always talk about that big It's so true. You're talking about the town joke, y'all. Y'all know we just we just right. People don't use wash class, your wash class, wash class. Thank you, any comments, thank you. I love all the stuff you do. Thank you every birthday. Thank you, thank you very much, thank you for everything. Man, you're one of my favorite comedians and just one of you know, my favorite entertainers period. And uh he's got teased in high school and everybody told me, I look like you have this humor circle. He's funny like that. Yes, oh my god, sermon, showcase check it out. I'm alone fan brother. Just love love everything you do. Man. Yeah, yeah, all right, Well on behalf of uh, I'm Bill and birthday Steve and fontigelow and shout out to Britain Jake. Yeah, and in the entire family at iHeart this is an another quest love Supreme extravaganza. We'll see you on the next program. All right, thank you. What's Love Supreme is a production of my heart Radio. For more podcasts from my iHeart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.