Eating While Broke - Godfrey the Comedian

Hey, guys, welcome to another episode of Eating While Broke. I'm your host Coley Wait, and today we have a very special guest. I pitched him, locked him in myself, comedian God Freason.

How are you good? I'm good man.

I'm really excited to have you. I thought for a second I wasn't gonna get you.

Oh really, yeah, because it went.

I was texting and then went silent, and then it said notification silenced.

I don't know silence.

I don't even know it's I did that. My stuff hits my pocket. I go, oh, you did this too.

I don't know why is my phone unanswering? It's yeah, but.

It made my day to see Yo. And I said, oh my god.

Oh yeah. I was like yo, and I got off the plane. I came straight here from the airport.

Really okay, okays me feel better. You're gonna cook a good dish. What are you gonna have me eating today?

Real simple, poor man's poor woman's food, black beans, chicken, rice, plantains. Yeah, that's always it's poor people's food, man. But being Nigeria, and that's come on to go to you be a Jamaican, go to rice beans.

We know all that rice. Yeah, rice su beers and it's the full meal and it's healthy.

It's healthy. That's why the only thing you're missing is some kind of vegetable.

Oh, green beans would have been cooled, like green beans and peasco I would have had simple you can boil them cool.

But our producer back there, Jared, was asking, He was like, how much does a meal like this cost? And I was like, honestly, this is the great thing about this dish is just for anyone curious how that this dish runs ten dollars. Just about it, like twelve dollars, twelve dollars.

And depending on the type of chicken you get. If it's quality chicken, you're trying.

To get that.

But if you're and you're struggling, twelve dollars and.

You make a bunch of it and you can save it for a couple of days. You like a pot of stuff, then like we would do it in my house, my parents do it. You make a pot of stuff, put it in refrigerator, takes them out to eat it.

Boom, that's it.

Yeah, And it's twelve twelve dollars, and I'd say it's at least four to six servings for twelve bucks. If you're out there and you're trying to figure out what to do for dinner, black beans, chicken, plantains, and your combination.

Every once in a while you get a little burger from Wendy. Everyone around you have those little cheap little combos. You gotta you gotta combine, a little hump, a little survival tool. Right there, I'll get a little outside food. You eat it said, whatever you gotta do.

Man, So what are you seasoning all your chicken with?

Oh? Man, I just use basic like salt, garlic. You got, you got garlic, salt. That's good.

You gonna put oil in that pot? And God told us that you are only olive oil, right, Yes.

I tried olive oil avocado.

Okay, we have both a grape seed. Yeah, we just discovered grape seed on this shows.

Oh really, yeah, I been.

I thought it had some hidden he elemented the guest.

Coadles best as far as heat heating, you know, olive oil, it's not bad, but alvocados is like the best.

But I'll use those.

Three crying if you're crying.

Cocon and oil, olive oil, avocado, But coconut and grape seed.

Those are the ones for like frying and stuff. That's what I do. But I don't deep fry.

It's like a salt tape. Now I do a thing where it's fry a little bit boil. It's like I'll pour water to combine it and it works.

Yeah, man, I got Well you do it over and over, you start fighting rays.

This is a little better. I don't want to fry it too hard. Like in between, I'll throw some water. Boil and water don't mix. But yeah, you can put a top over.

It works. Yeah, but the water a little bit a little bit. Yeah goo, Wait what is this one? Let me make sure I get to turn this so on turn all right? All right, all right, all right?

So is this a childhood dish?

Chop?

Childhood I'm saying, like, is this something that your parents made? Growing up?

My parents made Nigerians so we had food food, We had gari, we had ebba, we had all we had. Not Nigerian food was the major thing. We had jel off rice, moi moi chin just all. My mother could burn all Nigerian West Africans. But then we had American food like swedeti and regular stuff. But Nigerian food was the main thing a goosey, okra soup, pepper soup.

It was all and yeah it's great, so it slide me, but it's amazing.

Yeah, yeah, that's a very But now Nigerian food is popular now and people know about okra. A goosy is my favorite. Goosey is like a mixture of spinach and melon seeds.

It's like a soup, but it's my favorite. Man.

They have a place out here Aduka over there not too far from the airport, a Duka's Nigerian cuisine.

Fans we.

I'm gonna try that.

I think it's a duke of Nigerian cuisine. It's she Her stuff is fantastic.

But what's the name of the sup again?

A gusy e g u s i ay And you all know jel off because you have Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal.

They're all battling and who has the best jel Off rice?

I eat all of them? Senegal got I think Senagal is the original. I think Senegalese food is unreal. It's tebu gen tibi yap if they got fish and this lamb debu yap and their jelly rice is fire.

Like really, Oh yeah, food making me hungry. Yeah, it's good stuffs.

And then we couldn't get you to cook ment of that for us. Okay, shout out to God for again. Now I said, you could have cooked any of this for us today.

You know what Nigeria food. It takes a lot. There's a lot of ingredients.

My mother would cook all day and and the problem is, like I never my me and my brother never got to go to the kitchen and cook because my parent fathers like man doesn't come in and kidchen women do.

It's very chuvelistic ship.

And then when I got when on my own, my father was like you know how to make stuff? I go, you didn't let us in the kitchen. How am I supposed to know how to make the Nigerian food? And it's a process. Yeah, it's a process man.

Some stuff.

There's a thing called puff puff right like fried dough almost like I think I've seen it. Puff uff is Nigerian like Zeppel's. Italians have something similar. That's why we're all so related. When ever you see cuisine pop up, you go, wow, they eat that too, right, puff up?

But it takes a day. It's like a dough, a yeast. You got to put in a refrigerator and wait a whole twenty four hours. So my mother do all kinds of news.

I've seen it online, like where they like roll it in the soup or whatever.

Oh that's that's that would be. Yeah, have you tried?

That is a good?

Yeah, all that food is, That's what I cream up with.

That's really I'm just wondering about that texture. That really. Yeah, I had to go to a Nigerian restaurant with you.

Yeah, you should know a word.

I feel like it would be fun.

Yeah, it's good stuff, man, I love all that stuff.

And being Nigerian first a generation, just always eating foreign food was just always normal to me. Growing up in Chicago. I lived in an area where everybody was immigrants. But even though Chicago's the most segregated city in the country, still all my friends were like Vietnamese, Cambodian, Filipino, Nigerian, Ethiopian, Polish, Russian.

Yugoslavia when it was Yugoslavia.

Haitian, jew, Jewish, Ashkenazi, Ethiopian Jew.

So everybody was foreign. Everybody had that's all we ate.

My next door from Cambodia, so I was eating food from Cambodia, layouts and Vietnam.

So these are my friends fresh off the boat.

Yeah yeah.

And then you had American food, but we had our.

When you ate the American food didn't even come close to comparing.

It was good. We liked it too. It was just two different types of We loved hot dogs. We ate hot dogs and amberg. We loved all that. But then we loved our food tea.

We would throw down on our stews and our oxtails and our fish and our yeah man and tripe and the tripe, and it's like Jamaican food, you're Jamaican.

I love Caribbean.

Fred I'm an oxtail what No, you can't oxtail jerk chicken.

K But I'm also a snob because I don't think everyone makes it.

Of course, now, my mother was so good, and we were very snobby about other Nigerian because we were like, that's not as good as my mom's.

And I was just about to ask you do you think it's because it's our mom's conditions. Jamaican is so good that every restaurant I go to, I'm like, eh no.

I have a friend whose mom couldn't cook for ship and she heard it was trash. My mom was dope because we would taste other people to go nah man, and people would come over our house.

They knew my mom was making stuff like hell.

Yeah, yeah, that's how I am. One of my homegirls are aunt cooks like that. And anytime it's a holiday, you already know. I'm pulling up, save me a plate. But you got to get there fast because that food run out.

Oh yeah, whoa, this is popping?

Is the second is done? It's gone?

Oh yeah.

But take me back to what was going on in the era of beans rice and chicken beans rice. What you're making us today?

When I was coming up, yeah, take me bad.

So when were you making this dish to survive?

Oh? Man?

When I was doing comedy, Man, when you're living on your own. When I started living on my own in Chicago, when I after college, I was like getting into comedy and stuff. And then I got I got up. I booked a commercial, like a McDonald's commercial, and then I got all this money. I was like, I can move out now. My father's good. You can find your own spot. And then I know, and of course they supplied me with silverware and pots and bands and shiit.

Anything you need? Yeah?

Yeah, And then I started, Okay, what do I think I know I could make? I don't know how to make Nigerian food. Yeah, I'll just go get it from my mother and bring it to the crisis.

Smart. How far did you move from them?

Oh man? About twenty minutes away? Oh yeah, good because I had a little I had a little studio. Okay, but it was nice to be on my own.

And how old are you at this time?

I'm like twenty two or something.

And my my father was like, it's good that you live on your own. That's good because your mother wants you to stay forever. Yeah, and because moms always wanted to want their kids.

And my father said, I'm telling you, I mean, you live on your own, You're gonna see the difference. And he was like, I was like, he was right. He goes, you're gonna want to be able to come in and go in as you want. Yeah, you don't want your mother to wait? Where are you in this office? Yeah? So it was smart.

Yeah, Pops was right.

Pops was He ain't never been wrong. He was never wrong. My father was never wrong. Even though I pissed you off. When you're telling you.

Like what and then you're like, damn, he was right, yeah, and he says I lived the life too.

I was a kid too. You're talking about it. I'm not lying. I'm gonna lie to you. You know what I'm saying. I don't know.

So you're in your apartment and you're cooking this chicken.

Rice and beans, vegetables because I want to feel healthy.

And where are you calling your mom back?

Hey?

Mom?

How do I do this?

Not really because I was getting it. And then you start some women you bring over, they know how to do shit. They go, now you do this that that. I'm like, cool, Yeah, I handle that.

Oh you're like, yeah, I started the heat.

Now you just take care of the rest of that, you know what I mean.

And then beans, I'll take kidney beans, black beans, what was the other? The pento beans? That's always easy, that's feeling. You just get the starches in the.

Yeah, and then I knew how to do the plantains. Well.

When I first asked you, it was looking rough. You were like ramen some chicken.

But I remember having in college because I didn't know what spirit he meant, broke broke in career wise.

But yeah, college was Robin and the funny because Robin had three flavors, but it was all tastes the same. It's disgusting. It was disgusting that little pat Do.

You want to know something I learned on eating while broke. There's different romans.

What do you mean?

There's the company we had that was the wrong at the top as.

A bullshit, but they got the Thai ramen and let me tell you something, the other ones.

Way better, way better. Wha. But we did. We were exposed to that. You wait, there's ten robins for a dollar.

Yeah none, yeah, and you doctor it up your own way.

Doctor it up like you right there, sprinkle show and then the worst after taste. It was the worst after taste you think so disgusting. It was disgusting, but that got us through. We survived with that. And then in college. I went away for college.

So we would go to a cafe.

There was a cafe we all hang out in like different world. Yeah, they we had something orange and so we come there and my buddies worked at the cafe, so they'd be like, yo, my shift is at this time, So yo, you're going if you all you do is spend like five dollars, but I'm gonna give.

You more than that. Make sure you get my stuff and then we'll meet at the door and later. So we was we was trying to beat the system.

I like getting burgers, mad juices, I like that waters, sodas, you know what I'm saying, Extra fries, extra. So it was a combination of ramen at the crib that nasty ass cafeteria food because we survived off of that because the cafeteria food was true rash. You're like at a big university like this, and we would make our rice Chrispies, our own little homemade rice Chrispy joints. You just get the marshmallows, put the right put it in the microwave, and we all just got eat it up.

The It's amazing how you survived it.

Yes, Now, did you know when you were in college that you wanted to pursue comedy?

Third year Tommy Davidson came to my college and we showed he we showed him around campus and all that, and when he performed, I was thinking about du I was like, I think I want to do that. I think that's what I want to do. And the girl I was dating at the time, she was like, yeah, you should do it. You always holding court in the cafeteria. You're funny as hell. And not funny because just funny because my friends were funny too. It was because I

We wanted to learn about us. And we started a book.

Club on our own, and we were able to bring in speakers, Native American speakers and Latin speakers, historians Africanism to teach us stuff. And so I became that dude like militant, like school days like it was militancy. And then we're and then at the time, you're listening to hip hop KRS one, Public Enemy, you listen to Brand New, but you're listening to Day You listening to a conscious rap Queen Latifa was a conscious rapper, but he listened.

I would talk like that.

Imagine Malcolm X as a comedian, like if he was just you know how sometimes they can be really funny.

But I'm yeah, I was like that.

I wasn't as like serious, but I was like silly with it, but I was talking about real shit.

And that's why she was like, this is definitely because I.

Remember my friend. She the girl like Dais her name was.

She was a rebound check from my other girl that was on campus. But she was like she wrote one that. She wrote down everything on a yellow legal pad. I was just talking and she goes, I wrote down most of the shit that you were so funny.

I wrote it down. We woke up. I said, what the hell is all this this shit? You said yesterday? Can you want to be a comedian? And now on Club Shaysha, I brought her name. Her name was Toya Dixon and I brought her name up and.

Her she was like, Yo, everybody's calling me, say you brought my name up on club ship because you it's the truth. Wow, you wrote that thing. And I said, all right, when I get back to Chicago. I went to the University of Illinois.

Yeah, so when.

I get back to Chicago. I'm gonna go for open mics. And that's how that shit started.

Now did you take the material that she had written down?

And I don't even remember where it was, but I said, I'm going to start doing comedy. And I started in a comedy team with another guy for a year, and then from there I did. I wasn't really digging that because he wasn't as passionate as.

I well, and I was gonna say, what's a comedy team?

Team? You're doing sketches, Like yeah, I was right, this.

Is this is but this was before sketches was a thing.

No sketches have been around before me.

What I'm saying, you were doing it stand, but you were doing it in the stage.

We do that.

We'd have my sketches like okay, and it was cool man, and we had little costumes and dumb ship like that.

And then after that I was like this. I was disgruntled about it because he wasn't as passionate as I was. You have to be insane.

And I remember talking to Steve Harvey at this club in Chicago called All Jokes Aside, and I was in the hallway kind of pissing it.

Steve was like asking meuse, like, why what's up?

I was like, yo, I'm tired of Steve's not as passionate as I am, he seems like.

And he goes, how much you're getting paid for it? I said, we're getting like a hundred bucks.

And he goes, are you tired of? Are you tired of splitting that ship? I remember he goes, cut his ass and he just walked away that Steve Harvey said, cut his ass.

I remember that ship.

And then at the time to Steve was Steve was a headliner, Steve from County for a long ass time. Like Steve was like a big dog, like as far as the comedy scene, not super famous, but he was a big dog.

Me.

I was just starting I wasn't even doing solo shit yet.

So he told me cut him you should you say you got.

The skills, man, And so that's when I started doing the solo shit. Wow.

Now did you have to meditate on it for a minute or did you just know?

The next week, I was already because I was already writing shit on the side.

In case this goes, no good goes left.

I'm going to start doing stuff on my own. So I started doing open mics by myself.

Okay, Now, did you ever have a moment within that window of I don't know if this is for me? Did you ever a bomb or?

As soon as I hit I was like, yeah, I'm doing this.

I don't care if you no bombing comes with it. Yeah, but I know what I want to do. Yeah, you know it? Yeah, yeah, I'm doing this.

Once you got a taste, I was like, oh.

Yeah, because I'm like, how I need I want to be able to talk shit?

Now, how do your parents perceive this at the time? Yeah, I'm really I thought you were going to.

Do psychiatry school. You're a pre met psych major.

I thought you gonna pre med psychic comic. Oh my goodness.

I don't think it's not a big stretch because a lot of comedians were astrophysicists, lawyers, doctors.

A lot of people were like real professional.

Yeah.

I had another buddy.

He's passed, But Greg Giraldo was a fantastic comedian.

His son does comedy in New York now, Greg Giraldo Junior. But he was amazing. He was a Harvard lawyer.

Wow, and then he'd gotten a comedy. So there's film majors. There's a lot of people have degrees in comedy.

But from a parental perspective, parents.

Were like, no, make sure you have something to fall back on. I go, I'm falling back on this.

I love that.

Okay, but my father, that's cool, but make sure you finish your studies.

And did you finish.

Yeah, psychology degree.

And I think I've learned more about psychology living in New York than any You don't need to go to any psych ward or anything.

You just live in New York and a big psych war and just.

Doing comedy is so Psycholog's so many psychological things in comedy on why people laugh. I even had a book about Freud and the Jokes in the Subconscious, which is a little weird of a read. But I there's reasons why people laugh. There's nostalgia, there's pain, there's there's relation, there's all.

Kinds of shit. Oh.

I used to always I used always think it was just like if someone can relate my favorite comics or the comics that I can relate to. So I always say my my toxic comics, like you're bil Bird, I'm gonna call them Bilberd Sebastian like anyone that has the toxic childhood. I'm like, those are my favorites, you know.

Yeah, if you can relate to them, it's great.

So I just assumed it was relatability.

Relate. First of all, you're gonna be who you are. If someone doesn't get you, they don't get you. You can't. Just as people, we don't get along with everybody. Some people we click with, some people, some people we just don't. That's the same thing with comedy.

It's like, some people ain't gonna fuck with you because you say things they don't like.

Oh bye.

But that's the thing about comedy. Go find someone else. Yeah, check the schedule. There's a whole bunch of other comedians. But if you're gonna come in my show.

And then open your mouth because you don't like something, you're gonna get smoked. Yeah, you're gonna.

I'm gonna dust you off real quick. My thing is, you don't have to laugh, you just sit there and go.

You don't have to I don't give off funk if you don't laugh.

Wow, Because how long did it take for you to get to that point?

About when I got to I was in New York in Chicago two three, years. Then I moved to New York. That's when I think, yeah, five six years in. When you go New York is a different attitude because it's like you're around really dope, because I was around Chappelle, Seinfeld, Gray Ramone and Bill.

Me and Bill came up, Bill Burr me Bill.

When Bill had hair red hair, I was, that's how long I've known Bill red hair because me Bill, it was, it was Robert Kelly, Keith Robinson. It was a lot of us there, just a big group of us. Tracy Morgan, we can keep going, Jimmy, I think.

New York comics when I go to LA. Not talking smack about LA, but New York and LA are uncrible comparable.

New York's Landslide. New York is I'm sorry, we dusted off.

I think it's because you guys get more reps.

Of course it is, And.

I think I think that it also helps that New York cheats comics better than LA.

I think that I think it's the international thing too, because in every almost every show there's we're from Scotland, We're from Ireland, We're from the Netherlands. We're from Sweden, we're from Norway, we're from Germany where I had Yester the other Italic we're from Italy.

Oh my god, you have to come to It's always international, Canada, Australia.

It never failed, and it's always like that. You get foreigners all the time and they like honesty. H the UK, they go man. But it's the American ones that be bitching. It's always, and it's mainly white women. They're always fucking up comedy. They fuck comedy up. And this is me not categorizing on them, but white comics, Latin comics, women comic. I go, whenever we have a complaint, I said, who was she white? Yep, it was a white girl. White

About the privilege.

It's the privilege and white girl tear bullshit.

Because I had a white girl wanted to fight me the other day, she I go, She was like, motherfucker. I go, I don't hit women, so get out of my face. I get a girl and can fuck you up. I'll knock you the fuck out, But I don't hit women. My father didn't hit my mother my father didn't even raise his voice to my mother. I don't hit women. I never understand the concept of dudes hitting women. Now, I only get me wrong.

I want to smack shit out you, but I'm not gonna do it.

She heckled me and said, wow, you just move on. I go, no, bitch, you don't tell me to move on. You shut the fuck up and listen. That's how this goes, you know, I remember.

So don't they kick him out too?

Sometimes you really got it because the bouncers there. He can't wait to yoke people up. Big giant African, French African dude. He'd be like, he'd be like, you have to go.

Took it too much if you don't listen and her boyfriend is there letting her talk, because it's like pussy whip that yo, tell you girl, like if I'm with a chick, she's not gonna she don't have class.

You're yelling shit out. She doesn't have to like. You don't have to like us. It's okay, I watch.

But it's a show. You're supposed to be quiet.

I watch shows. I may not like them, but I'm not gonna go I'm not gonna say nothing.

Yeah.

But and then and it's like.

I always get a lot of women hecklers all the time, always women always yelling at me.

They just say stuff and I go, Yo, I get it. My fate is tirer than your boyfriends.

I understand. I get it. You're upset, don't I know you like me because you're interrupting me. It's too much. Stop, you know what I mean. My fate is tight. My sneakers is way doper than his.

I get it. Yeah, I'm in decent shape. I get it.

But you're in great shape.

But when you talk to me, and then when I burn you, now you're victim. Now now you're victim. But you I don't see.

First of all, I don't fuck with the audience. I'm not a crowd dude. I don't. I have ship to say, and if something naturally happens, I'll address it.

But I have no interest in whether you're dating or fun. I don't give a fuck.

I got ship to say material. If they had a fence and the crowd was fifty feet away, I have material. I don't need to go yo.

Yeah, you don't need to do crowd work none that shit.

That's just my style. Yeah, and yeah so, and I'm not in my as a commedian.

I love edge. I love the edge. I like to push the envelope. I like my Klan jokes. What would it be like to be a member of the Klan? You know, I tried to join. They didn't let me, and I said, good, I'm testing you. Yeah, because if you would have let me in, I'd be like you slipping the h Yeah, you slipping supposed to be about that white supremacy.

How you're gonna let me in? This bitch? Fuck wrong with you? You know what I mean? Diversity and shit? Man, how are you gonna be a clan member and not stick with your shit?

I love going there because to see white people go the Klan because I'll say klu kukx.

Klan, I go, people go, wait a minute, oh I go. We mean awe.

What's so different about a clan member calling us niggers and say.

You niggers got our neighborhood?

Then you being upset at a black neighbor or being assive aggressive to a black neighbor. What's the difference? Yeah, you still are You're the same. You're doing the same thing. It's like instead of pouring acid in your face in India, like some of them. Some people in some parts of India they pour acid in women's faces foods that get rejected, and that's like going, that's terrible. All we do is we punch our women in the face in America.

That's no, it's still abuse, it's still abused.

So I like to talk about those things.

Yea, yeah.

I like to talk about spirituality and people going on retreats.

I go, that's your problem. You're always retreating? Yeah, you always? Who the fuck can't go into the mountains and meditate?

That ain't shit. Now, when you practice your spirituality, how about when a dude in New York on the train bumps you by accident, do you elematically call him a spick or a nigger, a chip or whatever, or do you go, that's all right, he didn't mean it. That's when you practice your spirituality, when you can in front of people, not in the woods.

You paid ayahuashka, you have some shaw men in the wood? No fuck that. What do you do in New York on the subway when the motherfucker's screaming at you? How do you handle it?

So I like to address all those the idiot. What is it the idiot ship that goes on with human beings.

And the women are still triggered. You don't forget to turn it on.

I got to help him. But yeah, he said, women get triggered by me.

Yeah, you said they get triggered. They get triggered, Like how you cut this planting?

Sorry, you can be on anything, you know, he can be on anything.

Women get triggered by because I'm not doing my comedy for women to be I just want you to be a fan of comedy.

I'm not trying. There's some comics that appease women because you're saying, I go, I just I'm just being funny. I don't. I have jokes that are clean, jokes that are but I don't. I'm not worried about a girl not liking me because I'm doing what the fuck I want. I'm a man. Yeah you that means you ain't for me. I like women fuck with me because I'm a fucking dude.

And if you can't separate that from jokes to my MEA is eleven and fuck you, yeah out of here. Because I've had situations where after a show groople girls they didn't like what I said, and then the dude that's next to me, the comedy exst to me. They liked what he said, so they'll be like, we liked you. I go, that's nice. Bye.

Yeah, I don't.

I like when I'm not like sometimes it's okay. That's why I'm doing the right thing.

Because I knew not everybody's going this one.

Yeah, and if you don't like me, I'm like, what am I in grade school? I can't come play with you in the sandbox? Fuck out of here. This is comedy, this is freedom.

You New York at way.

But yeah, I've been in New York for twenty one.

Years, and now what prompted the move to New York reps.

And just a better quality of I wanted to be a damn good commut I would say, comedy is.

Going to keep me in the game.

And to me, stand up comedy is like a magical power. To me, it's magic because to make people laugh you don't even fucking know, just come in a room and have them rolling.

That is a level of emotion. It's a level It's.

Like when I make a baby laugh. To me, it's the greatest shit in the world. To make it an infant laugh infants. Baby's always looking to laugh, they always want to be To make a baby laugh to me is.

Just a level of It's the best shit in the world.

A baby's laugh I laughing. It's you wouldn't look at pets. When dogs get around babies, they do the.

Thing they do stuff. The cats do crazy shit. That's that's a whole nother spiritual level to me.

To make a baby laugh and the pets, No, they do silly shit.

And the baby's like cracking up. The dogs running around in a circle.

Even the dog knows yeah, and you as a human being, you mad, could fuck you dog for real.

So just to backtrack just a little bit, you said that early on you had booked a McDonald's commercial. Now this is before you decided that.

You were going to pursue No, I was in comedy.

Oh you were.

Because the agent I had saw me at a comedy show and so, hey, man, you're really talented. You can do voice stuff, and just that you got it, you should come to my It was a Phoenix Talent some ship. It was a black agency, and that was the first time I was auditioning for commercials.

See how I slice it.

My mom would do it like, oh, that's how you do it. Oh, so I definitely butchered your slic.

Sometimes they cut it. I like it when my mother would do it like this, like that, like flat.

Yeah.

Yeah, even though these are green ones, this would be like the thons, like with the Latinos.

When it's green, it's those thorning. Then when it's sweetest, my dudo.

Yeah, that's how my mom would do it too.

Yeah.

With the Haitians it's banana. We call it dodo or plantain. The Caribbeans called it planting. And then if you're in I'm good. And then if you're in Amsterdam, these people would look like me and.

You, but they speak Dutch.

It's a Dutch colony. Suronam is a Dutch colony. So the Dutch people came and fucked everybody, and it's it's right. It's by South America and Surinamese people are living in Holland because they slavery and just rape pillaging. So everybody came out real cool looking. And so the Surinamese they speak Dutch. They're the black people of.

Holland.

And so I went to a Sernamese restaurant because I was performing in Amsterdam. No in Holland in twenty eighteen, but I did Dutch comedy for ten years.

So I was like, So we went to a Cernamese restaurant.

The food was banging, and then I see a big ass banana come out.

I go, so, y'all.

Eat it too, huh? And I said, what's it called bacabana?

Oh okay, yes, all this are all.

Connected with the banana. That's why I when like Dominicans and Puerto Ricans be like, I know black, I know black.

I'm like, yeah you are. Why are we? Why are we eating fried bananas?

Yeah?

I know black, Papa, I know black, I Dominican.

Yeah, I'm a fuck. Why do you have this in your dish? Why do Nigerians eat this and Ghanaians eat this? Why are Trinidadians and Jamaicans eating It's stupid, Maduro Storny.

We got that dodo like that you actually say this and stuff to them.

Yeah, I said, look at the big banana, buddy.

If Asians don't eat this unless they're Chinese Jamaicans, the Chinese Jamaicans eat it because.

The China Chinese have been there since the sixties. And yeah, they've been in Jamaica since the sixties. Now they're in Nigeria. Now, Chinese are in Ji. When I was in Nigeria last year, they're there. They're fixing the infrastructure NIGERI all, it's gonna be Chinese Jamaicans. There's Chinese. They're gonna be Chinese Chinese Nigeria.

Hey, then then Chinese Jamaica's next.

There's gonna be Jamaican and they're gonna be nice.

And you're the chicken. You're positive, I don't think so.

Oh yeah, this is great. Cool?

You want off?

All right?

Cool? One dishdown, two dish down.

He has bread, beans and rice.

Yep. The only thing we're waiting on is the plantains.

All right, cool cool cool? Yeah, uh huh okay.

So we're in your story.

Yep.

You get that advice you break up with your partner, my partner, my partner solo.

Then I moved to New York after about two years.

Moved to New York driving a U haul truck twenty hours, twenty something hours and U haul truck pack all my shit and with my friend Bernadette, who was in the movie Love Jones. If you ever saw Love Jones, you ever seen Love Jones. Loved Jones with Lorenz Tate who's also from Chicago. Lorenz and his brothers Lamar, we're all Chicago people. And my friend Bernadette who was in love Jones, who I went.

To high school with. She drove with me.

She goes, Hey, I said, I'm going to New York I'm driving. She goes, you know what, I'll come with you.

And she came with. She's now a director.

She does a lot of really great ship and so we drove all the way to New York City. And if you know who Wood Harris is, Yep. Wood Harris is Chicago.

For some reason, I've had a crush on him since I was like, that's amazing, isn't that weird? Since I was a little girl. He was like good, an adult man, it's a weird.

Thing, right, Yeah, it's like it is what it is.

It is weird though, because it was like a sick confession a little kid.

He is a Chicago guy like and we used to go to poetry Slab in Chicago, and I remember when he got accepted to Tish and Yu and I remember the street. We were on Kinsey Street, downtown Chicago. He's outside he goes, Yo, god, man, check it out. I got accepted to tish Man.

Yeah. Man, I just got accepted. I said, damn, that's cool. I said, you know what, I'm moving to New York next year. I'm planning on doing that. He goes, yeah, man, I'm leaving a few months.

Man.

So I see you over there, bomb, He's over there. So I long story short, I'm driving twenty hours. I get to New York City. Bam.

I'm on sixth Avenue, York, sixth Ave and third Ave where we perform in the village. And it said the daytime.

So we tired, and.

I see Wood Harris walking right in front of my truck going to class.

This is a year later. And I hanked my horn and would I go. He goes, what the fuck? I go, Yo, I'm here, bro, I'm here. He's going to class. Shit.

And so we keep driving because I'm supposed to my managers at the time. I got managers. They're telling me guiding me where I should go. They got we got you a place.

Oh that was gonna be my next question, like how are you where are you living?

I'm living at one hundredth in West End because my friend, this guy t. K. Kirkland, who's a comic who's gonna be on Club Shasha, and a couple of K T to the motherfucker K in July.

You'll see them.

He got me my manager because I used to open up for him in Chicago. He said, you need to come to New York. I got some good managers. If anybody knows who Anthony Michael Hall is from Breakfast Club, the original Breakfast Club, the movie The Little Blonde Kid, his pops was my manager, his dad, Tom Chista, David Kleingman. They had John Ley Guizamo, Sandra Bullock, they had Mike Apps, a whole bunch of people, and I was another added edition.

Wow, that was like, yeah fresh when you first get into New York.

Yeah, I have managers.

So then they take me to this apartment complex. It was as a four bedroom place. It was all theater people. They said, you're gonna meet somebody. They're gonna meet you at the door one hundredth in West and so it's almost it's like nighttime, eight, nine o'clock whatever. We get to the place and Viola Davis opens the door. She's at Juilliard. She's at Juilliard at the time, and she goes, hey, you're God figure. I go, yeah, I'm Viola Davis.

My name is Viola.

I'm at Juilliard right now doing a play called Seven Guitar Go. I said, oh cool, all right, my bren is my friend Burna Dad. So he's okay, I'll show you to your room and stuff, and showed me to my room and then we're unpacking our shit.

Right. So this dude, I guess he's he's an actor too.

White guy comes out and I'm thinking he must be the other roommate. So he's asking me like, Hi, you're the new I said, yeah, from Chicago. So he comes at me like, so what are you going to be doing when you're here? Are you going to be like having women? He's just being real crazy with me, I said, And I look at Bernadette.

Is he talking to me?

Yeah?

And I said, that's none of your fucking business. How about that.

You remember, I'm already militant as fuck because in Chicago I used to go see Minister Farrakhan live when I was eighteen, and I would go to Savior's Day. So I'm down with this FOI and the Nation Islam. I'm not enjoying them. But I'm I go she farakhon live.

I can only imagine what that guy was thinking when you said so.

I was like, who the fuck are you talking to? I said, you can't say hi to me, none of that. I said, Oh, I'm not in the mood for that white dude shit right now? Racism is like when when does it end?

Is it all the time?

I was like yeah, I said yeah, man, I said, man, get the fuck out of my face.

Man. I just told him, I said, Yo, get the fuck out of my face.

So he goes, I just right to go, my man, I'm telling you, I don't I'm not in the mood for this. I don't know who the fuck you talk to that, but I will get in you. I will hit you in your jaw. I'm just gonna punch you right in the mouth. The fuck out of here. And Viola broke us up. Viola broke us up and then pulled me to the room. She closed the door.

I can't make this shit. Oh, she closed the door. She goes, you know what it is.

Right, Viola's always been pro pro black. That's what I love about her. She's always been that way. She goes you know what it is, right, I said, yeah, man, she goes, you come in.

He was. It was me, his girlfriend and him, so he was the white dude of the rule.

And he goes and here you come, handsome black dude coming here, and now he's being threatened. I go, I know that white dude shit. That threatening bullshit, and he wanted to have everybody. That's what they want. They want the black girls and all that. They're the dudes that be like, why is he with Why are you with him? They actually ask people why are you with us? Want me to give you a fucking list.

I said, the.

Reason why they with you is because of systematic shit. That's why they're with you. You ain't got no game. They ain't got no game. Anytime I see one of us, go with you because you ain't got no game, or they're mad at us.

You ain't got no game. Saw trauma bro.

I was telling him that they're mad at us.

Yeah, black women, Yeah, they're mad at us most of the time percent of time.

I'm t give you that.

I know it. I give you because I know ones that have admitted it. I know it is fed up.

That's the first thing they said when they get mad. They'd be like, that's it.

I'm gonna go to the oppressor. That's what I'm gonna go do. And then he opens up. Then he opens up and says, calls you a nigga. Now you stuck because it happened to Halle Berry, who I love to death.

Happened to her.

Her husband called it a n word. But now she was stuck. Now she's paying this motherfucker eighteen thousand a month. You talking about So I'm just saying, and Halley's with Van Hunt.

Now, which is dope as fuck. I love it.

But I'm saying though I'm not saying, listen, I'm not saying you can't love a person because of who they are. But a lot of times it's agenda. Nobody talks about that part. Nobody goes there. They just oh, no, it's luck.

Why can't love me? Like I said, yeah, that's a nice.

Hallmark card, but keep it one hundred because I know people in relationships that have come.

To me and told me and said, my boyman called me a nigga.

I said, yeah, of course he did, what you think. Of course he called you that, and now you're stuck. Now he called you that because that's how he sees you. He's not seeing you your humanity. If he never used that, that means he really loves you. But yeah, you've kissed him off. That's the true test. That's the true test.

Now you come to me telling me he said that to you, I go, what are you gonna do? I noticed shit when Trump was running in twenty twenty. You know how many people flipped. They were like, I can't believe my girlfriend.

She's my brother, but I said, you love white women, and now she flipping on you.

Now she talking at Trump. Shit, what do you think was gonna happen that? That dynamic is there.

That's why you got to make sure you ask them questions, man, because a lot of times it's fetish she bullshit, and they'll play the role just so they can so they can be.

Horizontal with you. But nobody wants to talk about that.

No, no, it's all facts. So violent pusy into she goes, you know.

What it is, and boom and from there I was cool.

I stayed there because I had to call my managers at the time, all of them. I said, Dave, Tom, I'm about to smack the shit out this dude. Oh my goodness, and then little old Jewish guys like, don't do it, God, listen, don't do anything.

We're coming over there, all right out.

And I said, no, man, and Tom is Italian, and I said, Dave Man. Dave was, when I tell you, the nicest human being one of the night.

They're all they've passed away ago.

But Dave, little Jewish guy, one of the smartest men I've ever met in my fucking life. He knew about the Nigerian civil he knew everything. He was the kindest man I've ever literally never said anything crazy out of his mouth. Was never like racially, none aside ship. He was very honest. Yeah, he never whispered when he said the word.

Black like that.

He was just very honest and just love it. He's just a good dude man, seriously a good guy man. And he cared about people and and yeah, man.

So they talked you off the ledge, Yeah.

Because five minutes in you're you're really coming at me.

And this is a house that you all got to live in.

Yeah, And he stayed away after that night.

I was like, you know, I'm almost imagining this is like a house like the real world.

Something like that. But we were gone like I was.

Everybody was doing their own thing.

Was headed to Montreal Comedy for that next two days. I was gone and Viola was gone. She was doing and when I.

Read her book.

When I read her book, which is by the way, fabulous, she wrote it over to COVID her autobiography, there's a part where she's living in New York and a certain doing this hurtin plan. I was there at the time, and I'm reading, I go. I was around and then I see bio. Like three four years ago, I saw Viola at the ninety two y there's a ymcre where they have a stage they have like interviews with celebrities.

So I went and paid my money. My friend told me, by all, who's going to be at the thing, because she's an egoch now she has all the different awards. I said, I'm.

Gonna go, and I'm gonna try to meet her. See if she remembers me this year's later. And so I go and then all the security dudes know me.

They're like, yo, man, what's good man? Yo? If you want to meet her, man, Yo, what got you? I was like, yeah, I want to meet her.

As soon as I walk in, she goes what's up, roomy? As soon as I walk in her and her husband.

Now, I'm just confused. Why did you think she wouldn't remember?

I don't know, man, I know. Motherfucker's that dude a tampon commercial and act like they don't know me.

Oh, you got to get a napkin. No, I'm just going to try and oh you use the napkins under.

The forks, because if you've got a paper child.

Yeah, just for now, you're gonna make shift it. Okay, makeshift it, make shift it right here.

Okay, yeah, I just do that, lay it out so I can it absorbs the oil.

Are you eventually gonna have to eat with me?

Okay? I know, I just want to So what are you gonna say?

So you didn't think for you? It's just interesting because when you talk about roomies and stuff, it's like such a unique it's like a kindred sister brotherhood.

But our business, this business is full of phonies and people when they do when they get a little bit, like they say they do a little better than you, all of a sudden, they don't know you.

All of a sudden, they're not calling you anymore. And you've been through the trenches with people.

And I didn't even know Violin like that. I didn't stay that long. There was there a good half a year. I was there for a little bit. And it's not like we hung out and ate together.

No, we're roommates.

And the fact that when I walked in, she goes, what's up, roomy and we started laughing. I got photos with it, man, it's amazing. I'll show you after she and I goes, do you remember that fight me? And she goes, hell, yeah, broken up? She goes, I ended up fighting that motherfucker too.

No way, yep.

That's funny because he was like his girlfriend and girl he was dating at that there were four. She was an alcoholic. I think she had passed away. It was just a lot of real raggedy shit. So I was just running into a he was having problems with his chick.

He was taking it out on It was just I didn't know. But I was just like, who's this.

Guy talking to I'm like, fucking yeah. So I was like one of those dudes. And I was like militant too. I'm like and I'm still like that, but I'm not even my white friends go, I understand, I said, pro black don't mean anti white, brother, pro white means anti black. Yeah, I said, I'm not anti white bro. I'm just proud of what I am. I'm proud of what the fuck I look like. I'm proud of our ship because we're dope. You know how I know because you copy us, your

We bring you in and go, whoa, what up? Man? What's good man? You do the same shit as we do. You copy us, and then you get mad when we ask you where the origin is? The origin is us? Now you go, why does it got to be about? What do you mean? What does it gotta be about?

It is about that because you don't see us as human beings. You see us as some fucking amusement park. You were like a Niggaville to you. And we get on a ride because we're like a ride to you.

I'm being like, we're like fun to you. Hey. But then when we ask for humanity.

Now, oh no, Now you guys just want to so you just want product from us, and we can't receive humanity.

We're asking for humanity. You're making billions.

Off of black culture. You want to talk about basketball for but you want to talk about all that shit. We're the ones changing the culture, not you.

So do you.

Think by any chance that you being quote unquote pro black the reputation of militant? Sorry about these mics.

It's so good.

It's the way we designed the table.

It's not being pro blacklat Do you think.

At times that that has hindered you?

I guess though, But I just think me being black has hindered me because beans and rice.

I think that being black has hindered me because there's just racist.

Because there's black people. I think there's they choose. We're like action figures. They choose what they want to be played with.

Yeah, I was gonna say that to me. There's such thing as the quote unquote safe black.

There's the safe black.

One day, I did a whole thing where I watched a whole like a couple of hours of safe Black people on TV.

There was a thing a Safe Negro Day. It was my safe Negro day?

Is that a thing for real?

No? I just for myself. I said, I want to watch these black people that work all the time. I want to see what the difference was.

I go, Wow, maw, chicken, you guys are fucking safe.

God damn.

Who like Denzel I relate to fishmur and I relate to Samuel Jackson.

I relate to because they talk their shit. Yeah.

I relate to them because they balance it out. They'll say stuff, but in a certain way. But I don't fuck with the people that just never say anything about anything.

But have you seen it on the behind the scenes? It hinder you.

I don't think no, because I don't go around doing that.

Hook it up.

I don't go around doing that.

Every You're asking me a question and I'm just, but I don't go around. I don't treat people wrong. I'm very nice to people. I'm very because I love myself. When you have knowledge of self, when you love yourself, you treat people. You emanate the same thing. I hurt people. Hurt people, man. I don't treat people. My friends that are white men, I treat them.

I care about them. I've had my friends drunk white One of my best buddies.

Chad white dude drink a lot, all kinds of shit him out of all his stupid man.

I got him the exercise because I care about him. Many I don't care. But the problem is the people who cause the oppression get mad when you're just trying to find a little dignity in yourself. They find it as a threat.

That's weird, I think, just the mere acknowledgement of it, because goes through it. Now, let's judge your food. Let's judge it.

Okay, let's see it.

Did you flavor of the beans at all?

But garlic and salt on it? Not bad? It's good, right, I like, not bad, not bad for a brokeness, I know, broke.

Okay, now, let's trust your wings broke.

Clean, crunch, eat and good ad. That's right. I didn't go crazy with the seizing, but I like it crunchy.

Impressed with the crunch though, I love it crunching. Yeah, but I don't know how you did it. You did a really good job. How did you do that? Do you like the soft inside? That's the boiling?

That's good? Yes? How much of that is? Man?

I'm impressed with the crust.

Yeah, I love the crunch?

How would you do that? High heat? Tell me there's some there's some listener out there like just jar. I know it's olive oil, But how did you get the crunch?

Is it the cover? Yeah, it's just yeah, the cover. You leave it there for longer than you expect. Hold on you watch it. Great crush. You did better than a sauce boy who.

I'm not gonna lie. The crust is thoroughly impressive because I've never had a crush. I've never been able to do that. Yeah, okay, good, good job.

Down and it's something you can eat.

No, you don't eat like this now sometimes Yeah, okay, he's like that.

Hell yeah, they never going down style see it. That's a good combination too.

Oh yeah, this is just so you know. This is a great lunch. Did you have lunch yet?

Nope?

Sweat right off the plane in the kitchen, in the kitchen sweating. Now when you see all these people that you were grew up basically we're in the trenches. But yeah, some of them hit the move. How does that? How do you deal with knowing that these people were your running mates and some of them have surpassed some of them may.

Not have I'm happy for a lot of people, especially when they've worked hard. There's some people that go how but you could just be friends with the right person.

It's all kinds of factors.

So you but you do have that moment of because you deal with I'm like, shure.

How you get that. That's normal. But there's healthy competition, there's inspiration.

But then there's people that get to a level and there are pieces of ship George, the people that came up and I go, oh, I fuck you.

Yeah, I don't play that shit. Ye I get anywhere.

I don't even let it get to me like that because it's okay, that's great, but this is transient.

It comes up and goes up and down.

Yeah.

I always wanted to be able. If I in a position, I want to bring my friends with me. Man, get that guy or that girl.

She's been working. I want that.

But a lot of people will pull the ladder up and not want anybody to come up, which is insane to me, because you got up there through the help of others.

Yeah, you come off that way. When I first met you, of course, everyone knows who you are and you walk in the room, we know who you are. But the fact that you're so approachable and oh yeah, sure, here's my number, let's set it up. I just want everyone out there to know that, Okay, without cameras, without anything, completely who you say you are.

Yeah, it's just easier. I'm going to be two people. It's hard to be in your so you wanna be another motherfucker?

Yeah, that's like corny, and I've seen it, like unless something tragic happens to you and then all of a sudden.

You found your humanity, Like why did that? What it took? It took a brick to hit you in the head from a building like home with that.

But now it's so funny because I met someone that did that day, like went through I don't know, cans, scar something. Everywhere they went. They had the preach of Jesus before.

Yeah, and I'm not perfect, don't get me wrong. Someone approached me crazy. I go, you talking to you?

You're a typical New Yorker in my book.

Yeah, I'm like, yo, why are you talking to me like that? Why are you talking disrespectful me? I don't come in disrespectful.

I don't. I'm very nice to.

People because my parents taught me that you'd be nice to be, but you don't let anybody push you over either.

You stand your ground. I balance it out. Yo.

You talk to me crazy, but for fuck you back now all of a sudden, I'm the asshole. You'll go, Yo, that got godfe his asshole. But you didn't tell you're part of the story. You forgot, you left that out. You were a piece of shit, And I answered you back, What do you want me to do?

You know what I mean?

So I but I but most of the time, everything is good, man, keep environment. I like to work like I just did my grace of God, give my my Comedy Central special. Take Comedy Special at the Apollo Theater. I just have really wonderful people raise Rachel Frasier, Amanda I, Dias, Kimberly, got just.

A whole cruel women that just got it done.

I got. I shot it last Thursday. I shot it on June twelfth. I shot two shows, sold out and we shot it and were and I cannot I'm looking so forward. It was so great because I've been seven years over due to shoot my next special. Because some of these networks have ignored a lot of comedians for some reason.

Because you noticed that always picked the same old people.

I was gonna say, there the way of selection. Some of these comics, I just some of them are like I just go yeah. I'm like, but backtrack just a little bit because there's a question. You let it there. But what was that point in your career where you were like, Okay, this is I'm picking up a pace or I'm a ride.

Book seven Up. After Orlandel Jones he was a spokesperson for seven Up.

As a second guy after him, I was like, okay, shit, I got I'm a spokesperson for an American product. I always wanted to that. You got the progressive lady, you got Jake, Jake from State.

Consistent.

I was like, this is alright.

I'm doing stuff on MTV because seven up is sponsoring MTV.

I'm doing spring Break.

I was like, hell, I was in the culture the top culture like, I'm on MTV with Carson Daily.

What the fuck? I said.

I didn't think, oh, this is it. I just thought this is a stepping stone, this is great.

I didn't think it's gonna last forever that this is.

But this guy named rod Asa, who was running MTV I will never forget, and he looked out for me.

He said, I love you are talented. I want you part of MTV. I'm looking for that guy. He was so good to me. He got me on two seasons. I hosted the spring Break. Then I did stuff, talking head stuff on MTV in the eighties. I loved it. It just merged and I was in the mix.

I wasn't getting paid a gang of loop, but I was just happy to be in the culture.

But you were, and you were but at this time doing comedy. And there's no side jobs because I haven't heard but the whole New York journey, I haven't heard any sign No.

I never have one. I had jobs in Chicago out of college.

I was at the grocery store when me and my brother and my sister were all grocery store kids.

My sister did the register when she was in college. My brother did inventory. He stayed in the grocery business for twenty years. I did produce.

I worked in produce, inventory, bagging groceries since I was fifteen. I worked at furniture stores in college when I was playing football and everything. They got us summer jobs. I was doing construction shit. I was doing telemarketing shit. I did jobs man, I had jobs, but in New York I never had a job again now but busted my ass and gigs, slept on cultures.

Oh that's what you did, my man, did you did you say before coming though?

Not really? I had gigs though.

And to go back with your parents, To go back to the conversation with your parents. Are you calling bluff? Are you lying? Are you like? Oh, everything's great?

You know.

I said I'm making it and they were like, yeah, I mean I don't have all the money in the world, but I'm on a couch, but I'm getting gigs, doing the urban circuit.

I was getting money cash in my pocket.

And were they in sorry, were they in support of it?

Yeah? It was a survival thing and you are you surviving? Okay? And then when they see I was getting things here and there.

They start seeing you on TV.

Oh man, When I was talking about my dad on TV, that was one of my most famous jokes.

Like everybody was calling my father. My father was like, I like this commity thing. This is really good because he loved anything.

He's very Really he's a comedian, I said, Dad Cosby is not Doctor Huxtable.

Bill Cosby is a comedian Jerry Sipo is a comedian. They're a comedian. He was like, oh, this is good because I was surviving. He said, yeah, if you were like in Psychiago, one would know you. This is good. He loved that.

Now, did your parents did anyone catch on early on of your impersonations and all that I used.

To do muhama leave when I was living, Nobody really thought about it.

I didn't really do impersonations a lot until later on in my career because my manager told me, the guy that the little Jewish guy, David Klingman, he told me, don't do your impersonations right away. Make sure you build your material, and then when you bring in your your impersonations, it'll add to the arsenal. He was right, He was right on point. He said, don't do it too much because you look corny.

But they knew about it.

Everyone. Oh yeah, I could do accents that your languages quickly. I can just spit it back at you.

And I was good at in mimicking people, so I was like, okay, I'll save it. So then when I got I don't even have to do impersonation. Some guys have to do an impersonation.

So you built up your talent in this other area because he already knew you were strong in this.

Other And during COVID is where everybody was like, yeah, I didn't know you could do all them voice.

I said, I was never on a TV show. SNL rejected me. I didn't get on Mad TV. No, So all the sketch shows never picked me for so it was what it was. But yeah, so I said, now we got this thing called the phone, and social media has changed the game.

Ain't nobody fucking with TV?

Really?

There're more phones than people.

And I was watching Dame Dash on a live during COVID and his friend is you don't have that, you have the box.

And his friend's talking and was like, Yo, so what you're gonna do? Man? During COVID he said, Man, what you think I'm gonna do? Man?

We gotta create? Man, Fuck that man, everybody is sitting at home doing nothing. He said, if you're an artist and you ain't creating, you stupid. And I said, okay, got it. And I just said, let me turn this phone on. It's doing Steve.

Hey, I'm gonna tell you this right now. Steve Harvey five Top five answers on the board. Here's the question I was on it Trump. I was like, this is the very good show. It's show great. Can you believe it? We're here cooking because I'm broke. I've never been broke, So she's broke, but I'm not broke. But it's a good show. I'm very proud to be about this show. A lot of people that are broke because of my presidency. I'm all about money.

So all right, you got to do one Jay though, jay Z.

Everyone does Z crazy Yo. Yo, it's over, Yo, it's over because I'm eating. Well, I'm broke because it ain't no joke.

Oh shit, yo, making the chicken, Oh the shit, his finger licked, got the platinum in the rice.

Everything nice.

So you did that and that Now you're killing social media too. How does that make you feel though? To be able to dominate, to just literally pick up on a platform.

And and now I want to give a shout out to King Batch, Renny D Storm and his.

Crew, a good friend of mine by oh.

Yeah on the social media people that I did sketches with that went viral as ship, thank you for letting me into your world.

Join me. How you guys can share and everybody can win. Yeah, that's not my era. My era was everybody hog up everything insecurity and all that.

I'm just keeping in one hundred. But they were like, Yo, this is what we do. Get in a sketch, get in with us. They're all eating.

Now.

How did you meet that group?

Through Rennie who looks like me and he's a Haitian kid out of Queen's We started doing stepfather son shit and that went viral and then I said, hey, man, I want to link up with King Batch.

He called Batch, came to New York.

We did a sketch Safari was there were in the hotel room Hotel Knickerbocker. Batch goes, Yo, I'm in New York. I said, Yo, I'm coming over there. So the one of the most famous sketches I did with them was the Noisy neighbor joint. I come in, I go, yo, could you keep it down? I come back, Yo, who's showering?

Man? Turns the shower down it. Then I come in again. I go, yo, who's doodoing? Yoyo?

Doodoos is mad loud man, they're splashing, man, Yo, let the duodos hit the side of the bowl.

Man.

I'm trying to sleep Man, Your dudos was mad heavy yo. When I did that, sketch made it up ten minutes. We shot it the next day. This is one thing about New York when when city workers stop you, that's when you know you're doing well. They don't give a fuck about nobody. These niggas in a garbage truck like, yo, my men, your doodles is mad loud baby, And I was like what, And I didn't think about it.

I was like, you're talking, Mike Goes, nigga.

You don't know your ship's firing on Facebook, son, we crying right now.

And then bus drivers like you want to run, yo, Your doodoles is mad loud baby.

And that's when I knew, God, damn, I'm reaching everybody. This is international too. And when I was doing another schedule, King Batch and his crew we were in Times Square. There were people from all over the world going, King Badge, I watch all yours and I knew. I said, oh, this is it, so King Batch is good. It's one of my little bros, King Badges, my little bro. Renny's my little bro.

So I fucked with them.

They really really got it. They guided me very well. They guided me to to the utmost. I always thank them for that too, and and I and I, and it's my it's a new point of relevance now.

Yeah, it's like that's what That's what I'm saying, like for you to dominate on the stage, for you to dominate.

And in social media and podcasting, and yeah, man, Joe Rogan changed the game. Joe Budden's changing the game. Charlotte Mayne's changing the game. Yeah, Andrews. A lot of these guys changing the game. And Bill Urd with his pocket. It's just it's Mark Maren.

Yeah. I did Marens twice. I did his podcast.

I love Mark Maron.

And I know Mark. I started out knowing Mark. When I first got to New York. I was always on the same lineup as Mark Maren. Yeah, with all his sarcasm is yeah, I started out with Mark Maron.

I shot a pilot with Mark Maren. Yeah.

Man, his interviews on this show is one of my favorites. He was very vulnerable, like very good.

He's been through something.

He's been through stuff, but to take the time and really opened up.

It was.

Yeah, he's a favorite.

Even though his fans are brutal.

They're brutal. Ship Mark's brutal, very critical the bank. They was like they were going off on.

Him, They're going off more on me.

I don't know.

People find the reason to complain.

Sometimes welcome, you know what I mean? Yeah, that's yeah.

So I've been through just being at Bernie Max Club. I started at Bernie Max Club also as a soloist. I was on I lived on the North side of Chicago. You know the different sides of Chicago, Sights, south side. I was on the North side and I would go this Bernie Max Club. Bernie Mack had open mic on Monday's, a variety show, and I would go there with my boy, Evan Lionel, who actually changed Bernie Max's life. He's the reason why Bernie became what he was because of Evan Lionel,

Yeah, man, so you've had an incredible journey.

Yeah, man, crazy Simbat and new Simbad's too bad with happened to sin Bad?

I like to see him. I liked that he was in the Straw movie recently.

Yeah, and that's good. Did you see Straw by the way, I haven't seen it. You liked it?

I loved it, and I'm not. I haven Tyler Perry, but the way that was. I knew this when I saw the promos. It rarely airmark a date mentally for anything television, but I was like, June sixth, June six, June six, Taraji is great. But the writing on it. When I said I didn't see the ending coming, I said, oh.

Yeah, right, I gotta watch it because I did Tyler Perry film last year with Tika Sumter. It's called Sisters in Italy. It's coming out at some point, met on Netflix, whatever. It's a rom com. So I played boyfriend at Dumpster. I'm dark skin villain.

Yeah, shout out to Tyler. It was fantastic. He was treated me great. I asked everybody I was on his studio, that massive studio. I asked everybody, what's it like work, like he's amazing, like the.

Stories.

Yeah, he's great. It's fun. We had fun. I had fun. Man, he paid me nice. I was like, when am I? When do I need to show up? I was it was fun. It's a comedy. Yeah, I did what I did my comedy. He and he was like, you know how it work? Hard work?

I go yeah, because he goes, oh fast, we're moving on, dude.

They told me they shot Straw on seven days. I said seven days and they said me.

Like this, thank you all right for real?

Because but the beautiful thing is with comedy, I can do that shit in my sleep. So he would be like, because the first scene was I'm going to a funeral Antika.

I'm in the car with Tika, and I'm like, she's like a real straight laced and her sister's emotional. She's not. And I'm a boyfriend and I go.

So we're going to this funeral and Tyler's driving the car and directing us in the cameras. You're not gonna cry there crying your mother because WHOOPI Goldberg, isn't it your mother?

You're not?

I think, she goes, what do you mean cry? Has it nothing? Just try just go squeeze your like, try just squeak. I'm trying to tell her how to do it. I'm like this, you gotta be like and Tyler's keep going.

So we're inner.

Were why he's driving a car?

Yeah, he goes there, you go keep going. Now do that? Now, now stop that. Do that. He's driving and directing at the same time. We do it and we have It was fun.

There was no pressure under that.

Type of I didn't.

It's one of those things where you just you're here action, you gonna do it, even sometimes the fear is there.

You've been doing it long enough, you go bam.

And he was so just chill man, He's just like, yo, ready, you know how I do it.

He was funy ship and I'm like, dude's cool. It's yea.

And then the scene I do where I'm breaking up with her, there's a funeral scene that's funny as hell, and I think it's he works fast and he paid me, treated me well, gift baskets.

We're all. Everybody was chilling.

I you sign up for the next one, and I said, hey.

Man, hope to work with you again. He goes, oh, no, you will. That was fantastic. I said, thank you man.

You know, hey man, it was cool man.

Yeah, yeah, I heard an amazing story and I was.

Doing what I love to do, comedy. I was having fun. It wasn't no weird ship. It was just me being a quirky ass boy. And he even said it was funny.

As they go, hey man, we're gonna have to take out the line in your head. We don't want you to look too cool. You look too cool. You gotta be a little bit quirky. They're like, you look too Did you do what you did? Yeah, they just did a little making.

I like the line you said.

You look too fly? I go, what you look too fly? Okay? So I was like, I have to break up. I just can't. It's just I just can't. I can't go. That was one of those he goes, you bring it up with me.

I was like, yeah, but you know what, now that you do the role, I can see why the line had the second you said, yeah, that's nothing, that's nothing.

Yeah man, that's like I said.

I just like when I'm talking about my milities, I'm not doing anything to rule. I want to who doesn't want to put food on the table around I want to be successful, to be successful being treated like a human being?

I want to Why can't I like myself? Why is it a threat to you that I like myself? That's weird?

You're savage? Why can't a woman be like I don't want to be over sexualized? Why can't I make it out you touching me?

What's wrong with that?

Now you're mad because you don't want her to She don't want to take her pants in front of people.

That's insane to me. That's insanity to me.

Why can't you have a sex scene where we know they had sex, close the door, and then we go to the next scene. Why do they gotta be they're kissing little normal, little shit? But why does it got.

To be right? Why?

Yeah, I don't understand.

I'm just saying I don't understand. I'm like, yo, I watched Born Hill because but I know what it's for.

But why, I'm just you know, why if a woman's asking for a humanity?

What is wrong with that? Why are you upset that she don't want you to treat her like shit? I just hush.

You shouldn't be But let's talk specials. Yes, let's get into the lane of specials. Yes, first special to the specials Now.

My first special was I did a half hour special I did. It started off with Comedy Central Premium Blend. That was a really good series where you do seven to ten minutes. And Tommy Davison was my.

Host, which is so. I saw him in college and I didn't know he was going to be my host. And when he saw him, he goes, yo, I was in your college camp. I said, yeah, I'm doing comedy now. He said OK.

He is so supportive. So then there was that. Then I did a half hour special. Comedy Central was treating me really well, and then.

There was a per lady producer that was really liked me and got me in. That was great. And then I did my first hour special was Comedy Central.

It was called Black by Accident. I was twenty twelve, then it was twenty seventeen.

I did one called regular Black because that's what they called.

Me when my friends found out I was Nigeria. And it's like, we thought you were regular black.

So I did that sounds like such a thing.

Black people was saying, I.

Thought you was like regular black, like you like niggle, right, Nigeria, it's only one g in that but and it's soft, so yeah that and then I just shot my like my third one finally seven years later, which was long wait, but I did Tiffany Hattish's They Ready second season that she got me in on the little Netflix thing. Shout out to my little sister Tony Hattish, and I just shot at the Apollo through.

Donations through will I Am Will.

I Am as one of the major donators, they gave me money. Who was a big fan from Black Eyed Peas Shack is the one that kicked me, called me and said.

It's time for you to do the show Man. You've been waiting too long, but you needn't do special right.

Shaq kicked me off my butt and said you gotta start doing go and do it.

Also, so how did you end up raising the money to do it?

I raised the money from fans like another fan like.

You were just open about it.

I just said, hey man, and my fans said, once you start to go fund me they told me so. I raised them a fifty grand wow. And from there they.

Said, we're going to send you my head, all right. I don't ask people for shit.

Then through my cash app from just doing stuff online. From that my friends. They was, well, I am a big donation. I was like, what, he don't even remember giving me the money. That's how much money?

He asked.

I did no, I'm good, damn so I am rich.

So now that you tape it, what's the next one.

I had another guy, Rodrigo, big time.

He was a venture capitalist, paid me a boatload of money and we got it done and I chose the Apollo and did two shows and it.

Was fantastic and all of the cheering was real. It wasn't fake. I love that, and the jokes were hitting. It was.

It was the standing ovation. Everything was just not forced. It was and they were and I felt how happy they were for me. That's what I felt.

They were like, it's about fucking time.

I like that.

Yeah, it felt good.

So where do people watch it?

I don't know yet. We're now we got to edit it down and prepare it.

So the good thing is I got it and I will definitely be letting.

I'll be on outlets.

But now, do you at least know a timeline?

I would say that I don't know. I don't, I really don't.

I will definitely be announcing it, though, because I don't want to say something.

Lying and move.

I saw that you were taping it. Yeah, but now, but I'm guessing that it would be within the next six months.

I would think sothing.

Okay, cool, cool, So this episode will drop. We're going to try and drop it alongside. So the promos heavy.

That's great. Cool, but yeah, and.

What can people expect when checking out the smissa, what's the name of it? Have you come up with the name of it? No, that's what's always Yeah.

Our current know what it's all about. Live We've been lied to.

It's all about being lied to about capitalism, and we lie to make money.

It's all money and lies. It's called that's what's This theme is that I stopped believing in a lot of shit.

And it's an hour said.

The first show was our ten, the second was our forty.

So yeah, it depends what you cause, maybe I'll do Yeah, okay, I like that. And then, just while we're talking about this stuff, how do you feel about the state of some of these specials on Netflix.

I think a lot of them are trash.

Yeah too, because not because there's a hater thing, but as a critic a critique.

A lot of people are on there that are not ready. You can see it. They're not prepared for that. But I do think that not like the Chappelle's who know what you're doing, Bill Burdos what he's doing.

But those are real comics that have been like George they.

All know what they're doing, Blunell ever Quit. They know what they're doing. They have the time, they have the hours. Yeah, they have the stage time. But there's a lot that I go, what am I watching? Yeah, this is insane.

That I've had somewhere I can't even make it past. But I will say this, there's one in particular that really stands out. Not going to say the person's name. It was so bad that I, when I say, was forcing myself and still couldn't make it till their minute thirty and then but the hype around them, because of the world we live in was like still hype. I was very confused. But I think that the more Netflix does these wax specials, the less I'm me personally. Yeah, yeah,

When you have a machine behind you, they can get anybody to believe.

I forgot what the name is called. It's not called Softis Street.

There's a name where you can talk and where you can lie and make it believable. If you keep talking about something enough, I believe it for it. There's a name that what it's called.

I don't know if it's so or it's just if they have a show or some pick up on social media automatically.

Behind you, bringing everybody you can sell. What is they even sell water? You can sell water to a fish. You do it the right way. Yeah, But I go and I watch, and I go as a purist, as a community purist.

And people that I know that deserve, I go, what what is? What the fuck are we watching? What are we watching?

That's me?

I know it's numbers. I get that, of course, I know it's the numbers. Yeah, it's a business. But you put up somebody that's whack. Why don't you put somebody that's funny because people will go, oh, to just see this. It'll be because comedy, I believe has to be done properly for people to want to see that.

That's what I think. I don't know.

I think personally that the real comics are going to have to start staying away from Netflix. And I'm going to say why, because I feel like Netflix. Companies like Netflix are starting to produce really whack specials and it's almost going to become unless you like I know now, unless I know that comic, I'm not trying them out because I'm not gonna try them out first on Netflix only because Netflix has delivered so many bad especially are and this is a non comic saying like a regular

Right, here's another thing.

I give people a little bit of a pass when it comes to specials. I give people a little bit of a pass because the anxiety when you're trying to shoot one is and I'm glad that because people like the build up to my special was it's just a lot of stress. But because people are so much more excited than you are, They're like, yo, man, we come into my sister.

Flu and my brother flew and my cousin's fluid.

And people are getting dressed in the nine, so they're.

Coming and hyped, and I gotta go, this is just a set I'm doing. This is the same set I've been doing. But I got decorations on the stage. Now, now there's a thing behind me. But it's the same shit I've been doing. So I had to take it like this is just another set. But it was a lot though.

It was yo, and I was doing Hot ninety seven, I was doing all the radio shows. How do you think I'm good? Man, I'm good.

I was just like in my head because you want, because you want to make sure all the technical shit is right, because you do the rehearsals.

I gotta do rehearsal for these jokes. I've been telling for the best, So you gotta do to make sure the cameras are right. Got to make sure nothing goes wrong, please, nothing go wrong.

And everything went pretty goddamn smooth, and it was all and popping.

I can't wait to see it.

Yeah, I'm proud of it. Man and my camera dudes, oh my photography. Oh just everybody was just killing it. Man and Ralph Carter from Good Times, we played Michael.

There was Good Times. Yeah, barely Mike, But there's Michael, little kid. He came by. He's a Brooklyn guy. He came backstage and it was just so cool. He came by. I go, we grew up on you. Man.

You were a kid performer. You weren't Raisin in the sun as a kid. Like they don't understand. You're a fucking icon. Fuck what you heard? You are a.

Premicon and you came to see me. And he goes, hey, can I stay for the second show? I go, what you know? What fuck you want? We having good times right now. But he went to high school. Knew went to grade school with Larry Fishburn. Oh wow, throw both from Brooklyn.

He went to fucking He goes, I knew Larry before he started acting, and Larry acted at around nine ten years old.

Now, how long have you been in your whole career as a comic? Now? How many years? Twenty five, twenty five years? What kind of advice would you give to people pursuing comedy and just because.

I say, I didn't know if he was laughing, You'll just be good.

But be good, I was gonna say, because you did dominate social too a little bit too. But what advice would you give to people getting into this game twenty five years? I said, let me consistent, And how long was your struggle period? For that twenty five struggle period? I always tell people it's easy ten but for the low average was my struggle?

What was it?

Was it?

A it was struggle. I don't know because I was having fun.

Man, I'm talking about financial struggle, like where you were like still yo, I'm still trying to clear.

I think when I first got to New York, and we got to New.

York that first six months.

But I was on stage but getting money, yeah, but sleeping on couch.

Because you had to go through all the clubs in New York. You have to pass in every club they have. That is it chitling circuit or whatever?

And the main I did both, okay.

But what was great is like chilling circuit page well, but then added to the mainstream.

Because I could go both. It was like, oh man, I got that. Man, this is great per week in cash about fifteen or two thousand and can.

Yeah, what's going on is I was surviving like in most cities don't pay like that.

Yeah, so I was having money in my pocket like stacks.

Is there any club in New York that was hard to pass?

So it depends it was a comedy seller.

But then I got in the comic strip I got in, there was a lot. They were much more strict back then, but then they've been a little more because there's so many comedians now and a lot of clubs.

Are opening, so they need It's like they need.

Content and a lot of people are comics because of clips and ship. Yeah, but I tell them, man, if you're in this, I hope you love it. Man, you better loved this ship because wait.

It's downside. Given do you think the traveling can be considered a downside?

Yeah, I could be tiring, but you got to get to places people, and I would like you.

No, I'm talking about her family and stuff like that. Does that ever get like hard family for me?

I don't have no kids. I have no kids. It can be, but at this point.

Do you think that's hindered the kid thing?

I think maybe unless you did. I had a girl that for like years that she didn't know I'm kids, so I didn't think about it. Kids.

I have won, oh yeah, but I was just wondering if it hugh.

To even have one.

Yeah, it's not.

I never I just never had. Yeah, maybe I never had baby Peou. Game was nasty like inside fastball bull one.

Then next year I get a text like, oh I got one.

If it happens cool, I'm not neither here nor they.

I'm trying to get that fuck you money right now. I feel like I'm going to have verge like you are clear finding it.

I think there's a way to get to it, and I'm around people go no.

We can get to it. Just strategizing we can get to it. And so if I get that, I'll be like, I wouldn't mind kid too, But I don't know who with because it's cycles.

Yeah, I think it's fool is disgusting.

I think it's hard to me who have the kid with. Yes, but go back all the way back before we close out. What advice would you give to someone coming up in this game after twenty five years?

Love it countless specials, love it you love.

It, love, don't be up there taking up space because you think you're going to get famous a day because you see some media, because a lot of mediocrity makes it, but comedy doesn't.

Is unforgiving.

If you ain't ready, it's gonna show because comedy gives you results right away.

Up, work at it. I'm saying, take it as serious. Denzel. I love Denzel.

Denzel said something to the ladies, goes, is there any advice you can give to if you see that one? He goes, learn, shut up, turn off your phone, study, go to class.

You see say that. Just yeah, practice your craft, hone, your craft, really work your craft.

It's a real craft. Because even me at my level, I still see the difficulty in it. I still see if I don't get this right, I'm finished, they're gonna fucking They're not gonna laugh at this shit. So we and for guys like Jerry Seinfeld, who still does.

Comedy a billionaire, that's how heavy the heart is. Fuck the money.

Where you see this because.

You go, oh, I'm gonna craft another joke. I gotta get that. I gotta get that laughter. Wanted to see my genius again.

It's like musicians play till they're fucking stop.

Stop doing that.

And I just tell people just love it, don't just take up Get the fuck off the stage. If you're just taking up space, have some humility about the fucking craft.

All right.

Just because you did two cool shows don't mean you equal to like these vets, So don't.

Stick And for the same for the social because there's a lot of social media influencers and also.

You people are on social media. Sketches not the same as stand up. You better you're gonna find out real quick just because.

You do funny sketches has nothing to do with stand up.

Now that speaking of that, just and I'm meant to cut us short. We got it. We were over time. But batches now doing stand up? Have you seen that?

Actually yeah, I've seen him. I've seen him. I've worked with him. He's with Joe Koy and so he's actually learned.

He's on Rower.

And he asked me questions all the time, so he actually cares about it.

But he's still amazed because you'll see me. I'll be in New York. He goes, Yo, what you doing?

I said, I just got on stage. I'm about to go on another stage. Wait, how many you got tonight?

For all in one day. I go, yeah, so you get good at it, you gotta do it all the time. He goes, damn, yeah, yeah, you.

Gotta do the in Betweens, man, you gotta I gotta show tonight.

I remember when Ego first got into a man. He'd be out all night and then I'd come to town and he would I'd be like, just wake me up and bring me a chop cheese and a snap on. He was so sweet. He would always bring me a chop cheese and a snap on. I knew he would be out all night.

That's right. I've been on shows with him.

I got him on wiling Out because I said, he's really funny, he's smart, he's quick.

And then he did it. He and my thing is didn't mean he was going to get on. He had to prove himself.

He definitely had to prove and then Nick.

Was like, your man, God told us about you. And then I said, but I said, Nick, Ego, you gotta do it. You gotta do the work.

And he did it, and he let me tell you something now, So there was no there was a part where let's kick you off. There was a part where Eagle was a little nervous. He was like, just temperature chech now and I was like no, And now had told me he said he waited the whole camp for my phone call to come through, just so he could reject it. He said, he just he said, I knew

He did.

He called because he called. He said, man, I'm gonna go. I think I'm gonna go to go for Wilding Out. He said, oh you are He said, yeah, Man, I don't know.

It was his third time, third or four times like Nick.

And then I went, I said Nick personally, I called him. I said, I got a guy eagle Wick. He's coming it. And then when he went into the room, Nick said, Godfrey told me about you.

I love that.

Yeah, and I said, and he goes, we I fucked with his opinion because a Nick had begged me to come on wilding Out.

Yeah.

He was like, you've done a couple of spots though, Yeah, I was on.

I was at Nick's house in Jersey, and I was like.

He was like, because I was doing his doctor Sebbi documentary and he goes, yo, man, so what's up man, You're gonna do well on the web?

Man, I said, it's because it's popular. Don't mean I need to do it.

Did he lock you in a room to get you?

He was like in his kitchen like, man, come on, man, come on man.

I said, okay, how are you going to cater I'm gonna I want you to do voices.

We're gonna cater it for you to do what you do best. I said, all right, mother fucker.

So I did three seasons and I got a lot of great ship off of that.

So yeah, I did it. And then I ended up writing on his daytime talk show for seven months. That was cool.

I never written for anything, but yeah, Nick has always looked out. Now he has a he has a Spade show.

I like that show.

Is it good? Getting the clips of it?

Yeah? I just like the idea that he did something that creative.

Because I know they called me for it, but I don't know to place.

I don't know how to place.

I should have learned. Friends.

You should tell him that and just ask him if he'd be willing to switch it up for you. But you should totally do the show.

No, I'm gonna.

Because I I did his Council Culture show too. I did that with Neo, so I did that one and then yeah.

Because they sent me a thing to do it overtime. Yeah, you damn I know.

I'm sorry, I know, and I said an hour. Thank y'all for tuning in on how can everybody keep up with everybody? Everything?

Godfrey, you're getting keep over with me on my Instagram is Godfree Comic and my horrible TikTok is Godfree Funny because they shut down my other account like they always do, and I have to start it all over so I have eight thousand wonderful followers.

Yes, and tune into the special that's coming out.

My special will be coming out this but it's still live at the Apollo. You'll be looking out for that. And yeah, my website is Godfreelive dot com. Find out where I'm going to be around the damn country in the world.

Alrighty, all right, thanks for tuning in, y'all.

Piece out

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