KOUNTRY WAYNE - Vegan Dogs With Baked Beans

Hey, guys, welcome to another episode of Eating While Broke. I'm your host, Coleen with here with special guest Country Wayne actor, writer, producer, director, entrepreneur, comedian, best selling author, father. I'm hoping I didn't forget anything, but I'm sure if you google anything in entertainment, this man has worked it.

Husband.

Husband, Okay, I'm just gonna say that. You see that facial expression is because technically he's not married.

Yet married to the Holy Spirit.

He's married to the Holy Spirit. Are you celibate?

Oh? Yeah, I've been celebrating. The last I said, I was about fifteen fifteen hours, for.

Shit, fifteen hours. So you're not you're not.

Married at this moment. Oh, you can't say that's that's oh so oh, just because i've you're not.

You're not celibate, you get to be like, so you got married to the Holy Spirit, but I'm not married and I'm out here.

You said fifteen hours.

The Holy Spirit don't come to you when you perfect, It's come to you when you inper.

But now that I have you in the building for the second time, which I do appreciate you taking time out of your schedule, I know I give you a hard time, even though we've only met like twice.

But I truly appreciate your time.

I really appreciate you too, and I like, I don't like every time I come here. It's good energy, man. I like you set up. This is genius to be eating wild broke and reminiscent. The way you tell the stories, it's amazing.

Man.

Yeah, well, your story is going to be really inspiring for people because your story is unique and you've been through a lot. So I'm excited for everyone else to know what.

I've learned about you outside of the jokes and the diva ways you have. But go ahead and tell us what you're gonna have us eating today.

Oh well, it's porking means and hot dogs for the second.

Time, will be almost the third time.

The third time I don't already started and stopped a lot, but they used to happen in the hood a lot. So because you know, my mama would be outside, she hear a noise and she got to stop slide the pot.

So it's the pork and beans and hot dogs. As you can see, we are.

The vegan version, the vegan version. Well, the the hot dogs are definitely vegan. The beans in.

Question, I got a vegetarian baked beans because honestly, I looked everywhere for vegan baked beans and.

I couldn't find it.

If you guys see this or you hear about it on social media, reach out if you can't find the vegan baked beans that don't exist, yeah you got. You do realize that everyone googled and it did not say it was in jail.

Everyone they google but not I.

Okay, well, after this episode, we will google it and we'll know. But take me back to what was going on during the era of baked beans and hot dogs.

It was going on store that relates to a lot of people's stores. Grew up, No money stayed in the projects Butler Home I mean Boston homes like Butlert homes later in life, but Butler Home I mean Boston homes projects in Mariotta, then being in Miller in Georgia, poking beans and hot dogs was a main dish deal that my mom used to cook all week.

Now, when people eat the same dish consistently, like ramen or baked beans, they usually switch it up a bit. But you kept yours pretty generic? Is that because that was the best You guys could do as far as switching it up.

Yeah, she used to try to switch it up, like got hot dogs today, guys hot dogs and state of tops and then next.

Knew meal poking beans and hot dogs.

All right, yay, next day, cut up, o, mama, it's enough hot dogs, hot dogs and porker bees.

She used to miss it up a lot.

Now.

Is that because of the budget or was it your mom wasn't that much into cooking.

You know she cooked when we've got our stamps, food stamps, after food stamps there.

First nine days, oh my god, you thought we were rich.

But the rest of them twenty two let me tell you now, twenty two days and twenty two nights in the witness.

Now when your mom would buy stuff with food stamps. Were you one of those kids that got embarrassed when she got to the register or were you the type that was like, everybody's doing it.

So who cares?

I used to be at first embarrassed.

Yeah, after so long, I kind of like stunting with it, Like I was like, we got it because you know, most of the neighborhood had them, Like you say, so it ain't feel man.

We got used to it after that.

Yeah, but I noticed, like eve been growing up in poor neighborhoods, you always had like the kids that had the.

Nice new kicks or whatever, we're more popular.

And so I remember just knowing that if we were known as poor, even though the whole geography of that area was poor, you just knew that there was some shame with those food standards.

That's real though, but it's.

Good to know that you you grew out of that and turned it into uh something.

Yeah, because for some reason, and you made you just made me think about this when you said that we was always the most popular family, even when we didn't have money.

So why why do you think that was?

Oh?

My mama was you know, she was cool like shell. We always was like our family was like the entertainers. So people used to all the kids wanted to come to our house. My mama was very entertaining. She knew how to put parties together, so we were like to fund people. So we was we was always popular, Okay, me and me and all my whole family.

Okay, so when you went to school, they weren't worried about if you.

Were wearing the right thing.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, they were worried, but I was so good at talking back and joning people they left me alone.

I get personal meetings.

You don't ever hear nobody online really say my name because they kind of know that about.

So like if they were making fun of you being poor, you would just hit them.

Back with I'm gonna hit them back with.

God gave me little stuff that i'd be thankful for, like straight teeth.

So there's a lot of it's a lot of bullet children around. That's all. I don't do it. I ain't got no money, but my fingernails are clean.

That's good that you had that confidence.

I know when I got made fun of, I definitely it was just kind of I just didn't like being.

In score with the bullying. But but yeah, that's good. That's good.

I like to I ain't playing no game.

But I didn't know I was a comedian then, but my words was used to cut people hard man to this day.

That's why I do not Jon don't go online talk about other celebrities because I'm so good at it and it get personal.

Really.

Oh yeah, even people who met the celebrity who met me by closed doors, they kind of tell people like, you know, like.

Well, speaking of talking crap, can I just say that I've noticed that you're holding that hot dog over that pain.

With no oil in it.

Oh yeah, because I figured out even when sometime when the hot dog is the slick, the oil is option because I.

Don't want the hot dog to be sliding out of your hand.

But wait, there's no fat in there.

There's no fat, but it's still got It's still got an old base. You got to know how to cook to do this.

Usually when I get feedback, gets spurn their dish. But I'm trying to not give too much feedback.

Learning.

Yeah, I've got to learn. You got to watch, learn, listen. That's that's a strength. That's a strength from a woman. A woman is the best listening. We can't listen like y'all, so you got to do your strength.

I heard guys listen to solve problems, and women we just want to be heard.

Now people don't know, because if they knew, they would do we wouldn't still be searching.

So we don't know.

We just we just know what need to be and what need to be is what it is. So women are way better listeners than us because we have ego a woman most of the time have to nurture a child, so she can't have as much ego as her because the child's with her no matter what. So ego had to get out the way because she's like, hold on, let me see what the real problem is. Man, be like nope, nope. So that's your gift and our gift.

Okay, I could see that. Taking notes, ladies, I'm charging for that. Well, we're gonna get into the.

Women thing because I know you have your comedy special, A Woman's Prayer, which you guys should check out if you haven't already on Netflix.

But before we get.

Into your game and your knowledge, I don't want you to still take me back to this time when your mom was making this food and you and how many siblings You said.

It was two. It was three. It's me and two siblings. So me and my two older sisters. Yeah it was us.

Okay, you were the only guy. And then your mom she passed while you were Yeah, she.

Passed when I was eleven. I had just turned eleven.

She transition on December the fourteenth, and my birthday was Decemmer the.

Night wait your birthday or hers?

And she got sick on my birthday.

I'm just curious, like, how did you handle that as a child, Like what was your head thinking?

Oh man, it felt like the world had ended when she left. I couldn't believe it. And every song that came on the radio felt like it was singing about her. It was a difficult song. How did you get here? I was thinking that the angels was like heaven, like you weren't supposed to be here yet. So I took everything personal. But the day of her funeral, I remember a strength came over me. I looked at everybody and I started to make myself laugh like I used to

In the back of their mind, they think they're weak.

I was crying and the girl that was in the same grade as me, fifth grade, and they actually will I was in the front row crying at the funeral. She was looking at me because she couldn't believe mister talking jump on the playground crying.

I was crying and I looked at her. I sucked my tears up, and I ain't cried since that day. So I handled it. I handled it through comedy.

Well, sometimes you could also say that maybe, like that moment was so much trauma that it like there was a protection, because I find it hard to believe you haven't cried since then.

I only cried good things.

I cried when Dione Sanders hug his son really like yeah, I cried by positive things.

But nothing sad, nothing said.

I ain't cry about nothing since nothing came made me cry.

Okay, that's good to know.

So all right, So your mom passes, What what happens to you and your siblings?

Oh, my grandma came.

My grandma came for sure from Florida and she she took she took my sister's here. She wanted me to stay, but I moved with my dad and his girlfriend. Yeah, I moved my dad and his girlfriend, Wilhelmina. Shout out to Wilhelmina, who took very good care of me. But my daddy messed around and shed off for a girl that couldn't cook noodles and Willamna used to cook all kinds of meals and everything. But she took me in.

What did your what was your dad's feelings about your mom passing? And put a little all here because if you don't mind me asking my dad, like what was his feeling? Like what was that talk like between you and him with your mom passing?

Like?

Who was that talk?

Oh?

Oh that talk? He the one came in there and told me he didn't want to tell me.

He was like, be he didn't want to tell me.

He was like son, he came in there and he was like, I was like, Daddy, you talk to mama today? You heard anything about Mama said, yeah, I talked to mister John Wish is my mom my grandma husband? At the time, I said, what do the doctor say so my mama had already passed all day, but I didn't know. And he was like, they say, they say, they say, she ain't make it, son, and then they bust out. He bust out crying. I bust out crying. So I

She said she was sick, he could have took her to a gusta.

She went to the because she went to the hospital the days before the stroke.

She told him she had a nerve.

She told him her head was hurt, and she went to our hometown with small home time three three thousand people. They told her that, uh, that's a nerve of your nick. She came home and took that. She said, it ain't no nerve, something on my head. But he left when she was sick.

Oh, like he saw her that day.

Yeah, he was at the house the first day she was sick. But you know kindsight, Yeah, he like, man, she's sick. You know sometimes people sick, you know you don't want to be around. But she was sicker than what she was what she was putting on.

So he cried, and you cried.

He cried, and I cried, but we cried, okay.

And then he took you to live with him.

Yeah, I stayed there. I stayed there.

So how long were you with them for?

That was December. I stayed all the way to the end of the year. But when I came back that summer, he was gone.

What do you mean gone?

I couldn't find them.

Wait, so you went to December? And then where'd you go for that year?

After that summer? I went to my cousin's house in Atlanta. Okay, I went.

You know what I'm saying, where's your sisters? You're not meeting up with them?

Or they was up there too. We used to go every.

Summer, okay, but they were still also staying with your grandma.

Yep in Atlanta to no, in Milan. We used to go to Atlanta for We're back in Milan at this point.

My mom died when we was in Milan.

Yeah, okay, So then what happens you come back? He's gone. You don't know where he is. You can't pick up the phone to find him.

That was fifth grade. I ain't see him again into a grade.

What were you weren't wondering what happened to him?

Shoot, he was running? Is that?

Was that like normal in your town? Or like, how are you.

Dealing with his name? Oh? So he always skipped town on you.

Okay, so you were at this point you're used to your dad being in and out.

Yeah, but he disappeared. He was good.

He played the best hide and seek hide and seek player. He needed a trophy.

Okay, So who is like taking care of you full time?

Like?

Who do you have to look up to back?

I'm back. I'm back with my grandma at this point, I moved back with her and.

My sister's okay, so she's mentoring you, Like who's who's who's looking out for you?

Mentoring? Oh? Man? At this point is me and the holdest spirit. I had to raise myself.

Okay, But then what age did you start having children?

I started having them as a team, like fifteen sixteen, but.

They them kids ain't make it the first ones. Okay, bray mama had a miscarried.

Okay, so you start having kids, you're in high school, At what point do you start thinking about entertainment or comedy entertainment?

I kind of knew I was gonna be an entertainment early, but not as a job that I still want to thinking.

I was trying every once in a while. I knew I could rap.

According to your book, I think it showed that you were starting in comedy and club promotions.

Yeah, no, it was. It was coming it then starts out of twenty seven. It was a club, it was a club promotion.

So before that, you were doing what to make ends meet?

I was, I was selling them things.

He was a hustler, Yeah, okay, so okay, so you're hustling now. I read your book, it seemed like you were definitely destined to get out of hustling, Like as much as you got in, you were focused on getting out.

Of course I don't. I didn't like it. I ain't one of the ones that wanted to do it.

Okay, And you weren't flashy with it either. You just wanted to get out.

I stayed fresh, you know what I'm saying. Everybody know I had money, but I did that kind of to promote my party. So I was really low key. I'm lokey now, same person.

You're low key, but you you definitely got like a diva in you think so, I mean, we don't check with your whole team.

I mean they being hello kind to you, but I mean, you know, when things aren't being said, you could see like what's being said.

But say everybody on their peas and crew kings. I just check on me, like everybody should check on themselves.

I want to say you're diva. I would say that you have standards, and I like that. I respect that.

Yeah, when you don't, when you when you don't being low, you get tired of being low.

You just want to be high.

Yeah, well I haven't experienced that the other side yet. I'm still on the this side.

So I'm like this all day now.

I'm real detail because I had to become detailed because my mom left me at a young age. So I had to pick up because a woman is detailed. When you got a mother, your mom gonna check the details in your life. The father had the main things. But with my mom being gone, I had to learn to be my own self checker. So I'm like a mom and I'm like, I'm just a caretaker for everybody.

When did you get into your walk with God? Officially?

Officially? Man like really went to them. I knew of them when I was young, at six, I talked to God. But when I was twenty twelve, I was twenty. I was twenty five years old going on twenty six, and I picked up that Bible and I ain't put it down ever since. I read the Bible eight times. I'm on my night trip. Every time I finished, I started back over, read the page a.

Day and go all the way through it.

So, yeah, twenty twelve, ever since then, I ain't in playing.

But what was the thing that triggered you to pick it up?

I was winning in the wrong world. I was selling drugs, had the reperplies coming. I'm knowing the streets. The girls like me, they celebrate me, but I'm like, I know they ending to this store. My daddy got caught up in the streets, my mama got caught up in the streets, my uncles and everybody. So I'm like, I'm going to prison. Because I wasn't on drugs. I knew I was going to prison, So like, man, I got to this ain't right.

But then you actually picked up the real Bible. Some people go to church when they don't feel right.

Now, Yeah, I picked up the Bible because the church wasn't good advertising. What do you mean now, I ain't see too many people I knew from what I see open church, like going to church and really find the answer. So I'm like, man, let me read this for myself. So I wanted because as a dope boy, we want to go to the plug. We don't want to go through the middle of man.

Yeah.

So when I used to see the proud stuff there in the word, I say, I want to get to what he got because he getting what he got, he telling to all of us. But this word can't fit everybody, all us going to do different things at different times. So this, this scripture might hit him more today but than me.

But I had to go pick it off for myself.

Okay.

So now that you exit the let's start from when you exited the hustle game and you're going full time into what exactly is your transition?

Oh? Had I started getting the nightclubs?

Okay? And then you start you.

Owned one right own your own two of them? Okay.

So let's start with you promoting it, Like, at what point do you realize? What point do you say, Okay, I can officially end the hustle.

Business, and shoot, I ain't in that until I started getting booked for shows for comedy.

Oh so while I was going viral online, I was still hustling.

What year did you go viral? Start going viral?

Twenty fourteen October? But I ain't stop hustling till January twenty sixteen, okay.

And then you started getting into the word in twenty and twelve, you said, got on twelve. Okay, so your life starts transitioning.

Start transitioning. I wasn't there yet. Oh, I remember, and I felt bad. I'm like, I don't reading this Bible and I'm still hustling. And I remember this laid across the street of the project with me. Her name was missing, and she said, Wayne, you know God got to call him on your life. I said yeah, but she ain't know what I was doing. I said, yeah, but what if you keep calling me? But I got something else going on? She said, whatever you get us got going on? These were hers that word.

She said, you can't stop right now.

I say, She said that don't mean you're gonna stop right now, but God gonna get you out there, because whatever you're doing, I can't tell. She said, you don't got no bunch of people coming to your house. She knew what I was talking about she said, God don't kill where you're at. He only care where he's gonna take you.

I agree with that. I agree with that.

When I first became Christian, it was uh yeah, yeah. Well at least I announced it too, which was my mistake. But I'm brought up Jewish, so Jesus was a whole new concept.

Okay, let's see this hot dog? Does it look does that cooked all the way?

Yeah? I forked it.

You forked it, all right, guys, this is what a big hot dog looks like, just so you know. So I just want to know exactly the pivotal pivotal moments. What is it hot?

It definitely is pretending like it ain.

Oh, you need a a hotholder.

Just use napkins for now.

Thanks appreciate.

I can't believe those don't even have nice handles.

Yeah, it's cheek kin, It's cool. I love you, Country, I love you.

Too, all right, But I'm really trying to get to like pivotal moments in your in your career, in your journey that kept transitioning you to the next stay.

So I hate to I feel like.

I'm pulling it out of you, but I kind of wish you would just kind of tell me your story.

Well the story.

Well, twenty twelve I picked up the Bible. I was still hustling. Twenty fourteen, I went viral with the comedy and I got in the same time.

I went viral, went viral October.

My club opened December twenty fourteen, my first night club.

So now don't get legit.

Everything going good, and you got your own liquor license and everything. You did all that on your own.

On the second club I did. The first club, I had a partner. Okay, the guy used to throw parties at his club shout.

Out to Hollywood.

His name was Hollywood, and I used to always say, I'm a partner with Hollywood because his name was Hollywood.

So I knew I was going to God was giving me signs along the way. And yeah, so that club jumped off. I'm popular online.

I'm going crazy, but still it ain't out yet, cause you know. And then I started doing those comedy shows, and then sixteen I quit.

And in the day I quit, you quit hustling. I quit hustling. I said, I'm going to jit do this comedy thing for real. And this day I quit.

The FIDS came to my house knocking on the door the next day, Wow for.

You, Like, hey, guys, your dates?

Like God, like I thought I was going to prison.

I was like, man, God, I quit yesterday, like you know, I thought the angels in heaven told you.

What's going on.

But you're really not gonna eat these beans? I love it.

I ain't gonna. I'm gonna going mad for you though.

Okay, thank you.

Well, since we're being a stickler, I hope at home when you're using teflon plots you you don't use metal, No, don't you don't.

This all y'all head, I use water, you know.

Okay, we're gonna try countries, baked beans and hot dogs the vegan original. I'm gonna try the hot dog. Separate, try this together. Last time I made these, these words did not come out right.

So let's see. Yeah. Sorry, but you're gonna pray.

God, praying for the salt get out of God is good. God is great, God, my father in heaven, our life.

For you to.

Let us taste the nutrients in this food. Father, let this salt fisture through us and go on out. And and I thank you, look God for allowing us to have something to eat follow first of all, and men, Colleen here to be able to experience this together.

And this back in the day meal. Take me back to your son Jesus name.

Amen, Amen we go. Okay, you made it a little better than mine. But I'm still good on vegan hot dogs. I'm good If I never eat a vegan hot dog again, I'm straight.

It's just disappeared quick. It's the texture.

Yeah, I told Katie Katie back there, I was like, Haiti, Yeah, them hot dogs just they're.

Not for me. I want to switch to vegan. I wish there was a way I could do it where it tastes like the restaurants in La.

You just got to start live in it.

I mean, you know, eat and live and not living to eat. I taste buds and train. So if you get off food for a minute, matter of fact, when you tell your brain you serious about it, it changes.

Your taste buds for you.

Yeah, because you could trick everybody but your mind. It's because the only way you trick your mind is do a substance. That's why I only pick people can trick their mind is when they do a drug. But if you're going to be sober, when you're serious about something your brain or transform your body for the situation that you're going to Yeah, so if.

You really want to do it, but you don't, you ain't gonna want to do it because you ain't.

You got to really see the benefits of it, for real. Nobody don't really see the benefits.

Well, I'll tell you this.

I'm actually allergic to red med and officially I can't eat pork anymore. So I'm like at this point where all I do is I'll eat chicken or fish. But but at this point, I do want to switch to vegan, but I haven't, Like I said, I don't have the culinary background to do it. Ving in La, the vegan food out here is amazing, So it's like to go from eating that good food. So like, whatever I'm going to make, it's going to be hard.

It's hard.

But we all, like I figured that out, you know, we're all allergic to that food. That's why we all have a breakout. We think when we go to the doctor black, Oh, the doctors, I got to take this. It's because our body is allergic to all the food. So we're just getting medicine for all the simpling.

Yeah, I just saw something on Netflix. I didn't click on it, but the guy was like walking through the produce aile and he was like, do you see how much cross contamination that there is?

And I was just like, the last thing I want.

To think about is like choosing vegetables and thinking how much contamination is already on it.

Yeah, but hey, but I tell people, if you gonna eat food, enjoy your food. Stop looking at the bad and feeling guilty about it, because they ain't no use of you feeling guilty and stretching yourself out.

If you're gonna eat it, you might as well enjoy it.

I like knowing the truth.

Well, but I feel you feel I'm just ain't one of them vegans. You know, everybody vegans be trying to tell every but I'm like, bro, I just live it. And some people who follow me they switch it because they've seen the results. But it's like that food, man, it's a business.

It's the number one drug.

My boy Translitt told me one time, man a burse and I told him that was the hardest version ever spit. He say, drive throughs are killing more people than drive bys. So they got us focused on the wrong thing and we change what we put in us the world to change because everything is altered, you know. They say the they said, now say, whatever food you eat, you get the characteristic go to animal. That's why most people got anxiety because they eat chicken, because the chicken always looking

And then a pig is greedy.

When you eat pork, you never get enough of nothing. I want to get this much out of this deal. I want to do this.

You never stop because a pig never stops.

Okay. And then when you eat vegan, what happens to you?

You become a plant because you ain't got the energy. See a plant vegan is like smoking weed. Weed is a plant. It really you get less innery. They say, you get more energy. No, you don't have time for the bs because when you eat a lot of that food, they got so many stir bolls and stuff. You have energy, too much energy. So it's like giving a child one hundred dollars to sending and going to the candy store. But when a vegan, you become more like a plant.

All day and what you're talking about, like you be chilling.

Well, I just hope I have the same swagger when I do make this official transition.

But it's gonna be. I want to like learn more on how to cook basics.

You're gonna do it, gonna come to you.

Yeah, we'll see because I love butter do I like cooking everything in butter. But whatever, we'll see, we shall see.

Start with vegetarian, baby, So take me, take me to so now that your plate has gotten a good c plus at best, had had anything with meat him? No, No, I forgot to boil my chicken and the mug. Why don't you just get your Let me just say, guys, I pray for all the women that have to go on.

A date with Wayne.

And that's what I'm single man.

I have to cook for him, because if I had to cook for him, I would just hire a professional chef to come to my house and I put it in plates like I cooked because I wouldn't even want to.

Deal with it.

That's why I can't talk that why I can't be in no relationship with one woman where.

You could just be with a chef. I thought that was the plan.

I tried to find alf.

I ain't gonna lie every shelf, every beacon, shep, I've been looking at it. I'd be like trying to get him a chance for I don't care how they look. Sometimes I'd be like, man, I'm just I want I ain't gonna lie. I do want a woman because when you when you take it, when you when two people eat two different ways, it's hard to you take away the date in life.

Because what we're gonna go on dates when you're going if.

You eat two different ways and you eat vegan and I eat, mean we could just go eat vegan.

But you ain't gonna enjoy it like me.

I enjoy well enjoy vegan in l A. I don't know how I meant.

No colorfower weeds you over that.

No, I was just getting Lasania or something.

They have good vegan, But you ain't gonna enjoy it like me, though, So you don't know that I know for sure. But I mean, thank god I'm not on the dating block of Wayne, because I would hate to get that.

You deal with that. I'm a good man to day. I'm your type.

We're gonna stay on track this, Okay.

Love asking Am I your type?

Are you my type? I don't know. It takes a lot to be my type.

I'd say, like my type has evolved the more Amy and I have talked about this.

But you know it ain't.

Ain't another man like me in the world. I know people gonna be offended by this, but I'm starting to speak more. I'm getting older and I ain't got time to make people feel better. I ain't no man like Wayne in the world.

That's how I feel about myself.

Yeah. So well, I'm just saying, I'm just letting you know. That's the truth though.

Okay, but this is you say that, but then you say you're also like need.

Multiple women, and you just said that you need a different woman that could cook.

I'm a comedian.

Okay. So now that we've tried your dish and it's.

Decent, ladies, just in case you wanted to cook for you, it's decent.

Okay, I ain't cooking for you anyway, but.

He'll cook for somebody special. She's gonna get some grits and eggs.

Well, no eggs, No I got vecany eggs.

There's such thing as vegan eggs. It's like the.

Little poor and like a McDonald's when you you never worked at McDonald's.

Okay, yeah, they have it in a cart and m fake eggs. Got it. I'm sure it's great.

Yeah, it's great.

Okay, So take me back.

So your mom has now passed, your father has now disappeared. You're back at home with your grandma and she's raising you.

Guys.

You I'm just recapping. So at this point, you.

Are hustling, and God is now in your spirit, and you're you're more knowledgeable of God because you are reading the Bible now, and now the Feds have just shown up at your door a day after you quit, and what is going on through.

Your mind at this point? I'm good. I finally made it because I was a legit. You know, me and my daddy was hustling together.

So they came.

I thought it was looking for me, but it was actually looking for him, your dad, my dad, So my dad. They got my dad and I told him were good. So I was head started doing a comedy thing and I'm legit. So now I finally feel like I broke the family.

Curse, which was what the hustling and the drugs.

All my family the dead drugs sold drugs. Everybody went to prison. So I broke the curse of finally finding something legit that was successful and I feel like I could change my family life. So it was the comedy. So I was on my journey of being legit and I felt brand new.

Okay, what was the initial thing that sparked you into comedy?

Like?

What was that thing that said, Okay, I'm gonna go out and try this.

I see I seen everybody doing it on buying. I seen DC y'all fly, and to be honest, I said, DC y'all fly. One day in Atlanta, he was coming up and I was promoting parties back home, so I was like, man, I want to pay you to come to a party. And I remember some girls seeing DC walking up and they was like, you know who that is And I had a pocket full of money. They're like, that's DC young Fly And it was a manual Hudson.

You're hilarious. So was the girls. Girl girls, girl.

Ya yo yo blit. See.

Women always been my weakness, but they always been my strength because God, I say, I take care of you and yours weakness. That's why I tell everybody just do your strength. Don't worry about your weakness because God gonna help you in that area. But it was the women. It always sparked a lot of moves I made. It wouldn't for because I wanted the women. But I've seen women were starting to go towards day. I was an entertainment baing, so I'm like, dangn comedy finna be yeah the thing?

Yeah, but now the comedy on Vine was different than your So I always say that influencers are different type of comedian than actual comics because a lot of the influencers different from the way you tape your stuff is they do a lot of edit, so they cut at it. You know, the six second clip. That was a very

You put them on stage.

They can't hold as are everybody can't do that stage.

So instead of looking at what DC was doing online, you said, all right, I see him in person and he's doing stand up comedy.

He wasn't even stand up. I was just feeling to do online.

I would oh, you were trying to do online too.

I wouldn't do it yet, But that's what sparked me to go do it on the line online. But you know, we just went back a little bit to twenty fourteen. What sparked me to get into it, but what starpd me to do stand up? That's what the fans kept asking for. At first they was paying me to do walk Through five thousand and six thousand, but then was like, man, we want to see why ain't do stand up. I was like, oh lord, I don't have a joke to tell.

Okay, you know it's so funny because I think be Simone when she taped us, she said the same thing. She said that her fans started kind of saying, hey, I'll pay you to do comedy, and she was like, well, how much and.

They offered her.

She was a shoot, I'll go out there and do it and swing it, and then she started getting in the comedy that way they some what her fans kept telling her they liked.

Yeah.

So I didn't go out and get it at first because I knew better, because I didn't want to be known as not good, because yeah, I want I like to stay up.

Okay.

So but but that stand up man I started. I was always a comedy fan, so I put I learned. I learned real quick, though, I figured it out fast, like I started doing stand up. When I started, I started May twenty fifteen with the first stand up gig. I took like hosting, but by by that July I had I had forty five minutes and by out of out of forty five minutes, twenty five. But it was real good, so I was I learned fast. Yes, I learned fast.

Okay, So then you start booking your own shows from there or where it gets out.

People were calling, people were calling and booking me.

They were calling and booking me, and I was getting like, I'm making like thirty grand a month, but messed.

Around thirty grand a month off a new comic. Well, how big was your following at the time?

Heck of me.

Okay, that's it.

And then what happened was August twenty sixteen, I got it. I finally got in the company club and Richmond. I had to Richmond, Virginia on a Tuesday, and I think I went to Virginia Beach Funny Bone on the Wednesday. It was right beside each other, and I made like twenty grand. I said, oh my god, I'm about to make a million dollars next year. So that motivated me

I made twenty grand in one week.

Yeah, that would have been a game changer for me.

Now, if I were to be a fly on your wall, is your process when you get inspired like that to go, oh man, I should do a heavy dive. Are you pulling out like whiteboards or.

Do you have notebooks? Are you keeping notes on your phone?

Like?

How are you tracking that growth or aiming for that growth?

In my mind?

Okay, so nothing's been written down.

I never write anything down with in my mind. I just had its goal and I see it and I focus on it.

How much a long time do you spend with yourself a lot in a day? Like do you is it like a necessity to have some quiet time with yourself or is it like you're always surrounded because even pulling up here, you had like four people with you.

Even on with people, they know I'm not really there. That's why they all check on everything. They don't allow me to do nothing because everybody know I'm not really You're.

Not really fully present.

I'm not present. Okay, I'm never praisent. I'm always in my head.

Okay, yeah, I can get that also.

Okay, So now that your career, your comedy career is starting to take off, you're doing well, you have your clubs going into the pandemic or they're nah, I've.

Been counseling them twenty sixteen, I let them go.

Did you cancel them because they weren't doing well or they were starting to be like not worth the money, not not.

Worth the money because people started fighting shooting there, and when I wasn't there, I didn't want that.

I didn't want those problems.

So it was like risk versus reward wasn't worth it. It wasn't worth it, Okay, So then pandemic happens.

Pandemic happened, game changed.

Tell me about it.

I went to social media because the stand up stop. So I'm on this journey from stand up twenty fifteen, sixteen seventy to eighteen nineteen twenty and then bam, it took away from me. Yeah, so now I'm back to where I was in the beginning. I gotta figure this out.

Now comedy comes to a complete hope. But your videos at the time, how much money were they generating?

None when the pandemic first hit. So I started it and then like pending Me hit in March that May, I made like twenty seven thousand.

Off social social Okay, but that was your first chick Okay.

How did it just happen in March like that? Did you just monetize the channels at that point.

Or I was about to start monetizing before the pandemic, But when the pandemic hit, I put it. I sped up, I sped up the processing. I started taking the serious because I had to. Yeah, you know, that money kept going up, and I seen the money. I was like, oh, this is the easiest money ever made because it's residual. You shoot the video, you put them up. You making it like I'm making money while I'm talking right now.

Then it went to sisty.

Then I made a hundred, then it went to one hundred to two hundred thousand a month, two three, three hundred four, four hundred five seis if then it's kept going and it's just keep going.

I'm curious.

So when money's coming in like that and you come from being broke, was there a part of you that started to say, well, I should save some or were you like, money's coming in here, here's some for you, here's some for you, here's some for you. Were you just spending it or were you like kind of managing it a certain way.

You're spending it, but I'm managing it like certain things I had to do.

Man.

I got my house, got the cars, but I took care my family. I got all my family off straight. Because I thought about it. I said, either I save this money and don't give them as much as I give them and lead them in their environments. I say, but if something happened to me and something happened to them, the every dollar I got won't be worth it. So I snatched my whole family and put them in a bier the environment, so everybody stay around me.

The house is I did that first.

And when you say your family, you're not talking about the family that you came from. You're talking about the family that you also created, or you talking about both.

Both, Like my brother's the god you see me with and my real brothers. Mike he became my brother, he and my blood brother. But between first it was my family, my brothers, my sisters, my baby mamas, my my kids, just everybody who connected to that nucleus.

First.

Then I started meeting people like Mike Bred, Terry Amy. You know what I'm saying, Just people that I want to keep in my life forever. I'm like, man, you know, I just I just it's like they because I learned to grow a business, you got to have people.

Yeah, I mean a lot of people underestimate that HR is the it's actually should be number one in any organization, like your team, your people. I always tell people, if you find a good person, like my team, knows like they ain't leaving. I'll be like before with any discussions, like they get first steps on anything they want, and they should always feel comfortable come to me first because

I'm very straightforward.

Like me too, I get rid of somebody now. I don't got I don't find so many people. I don't, man, I'm about that money. I ain't a lie like I just I ain't got time to be out here playing because money does things for people.

I'm fine.

But the fact that my family and people, man, we ain't come from nothing. So to give them that experience here in his life, hey man, I just enjoy it.

Yeah, well you've done a good job managing the money and managing your gross. So take me to closer to the Netflix special and what that deal? Like, how did that deal come about?

And that deal came about? We was in talks, but it can't you know. They finally they finally reached back out and say we'll do it. And I couldn't really discuss the deal. I remember my Layder' telling me this. He said, the deal they gave me, they don't really want me to take it because they were doing new situations and so.

But for me, I knew that Netflix special was gonna take me to.

A whole other level because I knew nobody ain't think the Internet comic can really stand on the stage and joke for joke for joke for joke for jokes. So I was just like, this, what the game and waiting on because they've been waiting on us, the coming the game and waiting on one of us, the Internet people to blow because it's like somebody else could shoot a special feel it. But if it ain't me, DC on Fly, Drew Ski, yeah, disit Banks, they want Callos, they want us.

You want the man you love to be the one exactly.

So I already knew if I get to this special, I'm gonna shock the game because.

Nobody don't know I can do it.

Yes, And I knew, oh lord, I just knew that was that was the most move.

I was proud of that.

I ain't mind spending the extra money get the Fantasia song and spend it.

I didn't care.

About Oh you you were really in the details with it. Oh I spent bread, Okay, I like that.

I didn't care what they get.

I spent money, you know, little things I wanted because I knew this was gonna be I knew what.

It was gonna do.

Well, I don't want to backtrack, but I did kind of skip over, and I do want to backtrack now. When it came to the book, how long did it take you to put that books in?

Oh? My god, a couple of years.

But were you working on it since what date?

Though?

Because it came out last Wait, you're in it came out this year?

Yeah, this year, But I've been working on it since twenty I got that book deal and we.

Started working on the twenty twenty.

So they approached you to write a book or were you already like secretly.

My agency told me I'm gonna write a book. They say, put it, put it to put together. We had to write the samps, the simple the synopsis and all that. You know what the book was gonna be about. So I paid a writers. We got together and did that, and then we were out of pitched it and we pitched it and I got I got a book situation fast. But then we had to go back and write the book. That's a long process.

Okay, But did you sit around and actually write it out or did you sit down?

I talked it out and she typed it out. So I typed me and her talk for so many me and me on like friends. Now he talks so much. I probably never write a book again.

You know what, though, I will say this though, when you read the book, it does read like that you and uh, I like your book. I'm gonna say that I wasn't really a big fan of Kevin Hart's book because I just couldn't stand the way they wrote it, Like you know, some books it's like that.

It was just it felt like he was talking to me a little too.

Much, and I was like, man, I wish y'all would have just put a little bit more of a writer's touch.

But on your book, it's a good balance. I like it. I mean, you give women a lot of credits, so it's.

Hard not like that, and we ain't nothing without women. They all everything.

So when you saw the edits on the Netflix special. Were you by yourself when you watched it or who were you with when.

You saw the final edits?

I was by myself.

Okay, so you did watch it first by yourself and what was your immediate thoughts?

Were you critical?

Yeah?

I was. I was trying to be critical. I was like, man, they need to show the audience because they were laughing so loud. I was like, I don't want them to think that's no laud track.

You're hilarious.

I was like, you know what I'm saying, but I just knew. I say, man, this is finna change the game.

So then who was the next person you sends it out to after you saw it?

I was showing that everybody that was around me, my brothers, and they were seeing clips. I think I might seeing it my agency seeing everybody seen it, but they were there at the show, so we all knew. Anyway. We all was like, my whole team knew. It's like I suppose somebody hit another level of the team no before the other. We're like, bro and the world just didn't know, Like, ain't nobody from beat me in this comedy? Yeah, I already I never looked at nobody and they skin heard

Oh wow.

And when the stand up dropped.

I started to tell him like, oh, no, you're a fan now, hey, but I just I just knew, man, I just knew.

So I know that the industry.

It's funny because I'll get different different walks of life in here, and you can definitely hear an overwhelming sound of the industry not respect influencers. And it's weird because I feel like I'm friends with both sides and I'm like, influencers, bless you. Influencers work extremely hard. But the is the the I guess stereotype because I'm missing. The word that I want to use is that you guys just have it so instant.

And that's true.

That's true though, that's true, and it's like I get what they're saying, but they got to pick. They can't say about everybody because if you watch Country Wayne, I did something different online than everybody.

I didn't do these little short clips.

No, you did like I do.

I still got to and it's still going on.

Everything in it don't add like I ain't it, And I know that That's why my comfort I have to be my own confidence because nobody won't see it when you the truth.

The people ain't gonna never speak about the truth.

Well, I'm sure once the special drops, people are definitely gonna be.

Man, they still gonna try to be silent.

But you it's like one thing about it though, where's fargo talk men and live women. Lot numbers don't lie, so the money ain't gonna lie.

So it's like I.

Don't really care for real to get people created of God and told me what I am. When I need to work on something God like you work on that, I don't look like when I first started as a comedian, like, oh I ain't that good yet. I look at Laville Crawford. I can't do what he doing yet I was working. But I'm like, they never gonna be the real one. It's never gonna get the real credit from because it's like if you call out the real it exupposed to everybody who ain't working.

Yeah.

So when you when you real good, when you.

Real, real good at something, you have to be your own cheerleader because if you too good, if you at that level where you just too too much good about you, it's too much talk. And people kind of like my fan base when you go on my comments, it's like we love Wayne. It's like it's like this thing, people like, why he getting treated like that? So that's gonna come with jealousy and to be honest when you're committ when you anybody, if girls like you, that's what it's all about.

Every guy that with me.

It is just everybody knows I got the women like me and comedians and when you're a comedian, they never seen the comedian really move like that. So it was a lot of hate and jealousy. But I dealt with that in high school. I fought in high school all the time about the same situation. So what I learned to do in this I'm like, brouh, I got no women, so y'all can hate all y'all want, because the women

I don't understand that.

Yeah, see that what I'm saying, I'm crazy. But basically, I work on myself so much for this. I'm preparing myself for with the competition of what I do. That's the reason why I get my rest, That's the reason why I don't because I want to be the best at what I do period. So everything I do, I'm serious about that. Like I'm in coming to the club sneaking around getting another.

Set ready for this next special.

Yeah you know what I'm saying, I ain't gonna like it's just I move like that because it be I'm a friendly person when I meet people, like hey, how you doing, But then I feel that like are you moving like that?

All right? You on my list?

You on my list, you on my listen, you on my listen, you on my list, and I'm never gonna take my foot off your nick so it and it's bad.

I consider you self made well. I think it's very obvious yourself made came from nothing, literally nothing. What advice would you give to someone else that's coming from that same situation but maybe doesn't feel they have the natural talents because I think some of your talent may be a little natural. I think charisma can be a little more natural natural.

Nobody's not going to help you, and don't look for somebody. Find God in yourself, because God is in everybody you know, and you know I.

Believe in Jesus.

If you don't believe in Jesus, just believe in yourself at least, and you got to find that thing in you that's gonna If you don't got the natural talent, you might got the natural build to work harder than this man, do everything you can, and God to do the risk, because nobody is truly really going to help you, because when somebody do help you, it's gonna cast so much interest. In the end, you don't even want to help.

Know it gonna make you move different. Let me look out for me. Let me not I ain't gonna take too many drinks. Let me get me some rest.

Let me do everything I can control, because I can't get a million dollars over night all the time. I can't get ten million dollars. But now let me set my bindaries. I know me so okay, I ain't finna get too deep in this relationship because I'm gonna like you too much and you're gonna throw me off. So you look out for yourself because the devil could get in anybody. Devil could get in your the people right

Yeah, and then one last thing, your success. It wasn't overnight, nah, but it definitely appears to be overnight. What was like the hardest thing that you had to accomplish on this journey.

The hardest thing was to keep going, to keep myself to make my fan like, Okay, my day coming, my day coming, because everybody was getting their day, all their influences getting their day because everybody but I don't kiss no butt, so nobody ain't gonna help you if you're not Wayne. If you think you're finna walk in here and I feel them, I probably want to help me either, because I walk in the room and I'm gonna speak, but I'm not.

I don't care who you are.

Ain't nobody God, Yeah, but I think you have like a cool I mean, I joke with you all, and I definitely think you have that country side that is likable. Yeah, even if you're like a diva ish, you have that country yeah.

Man. But I just that was the hardest thing.

It's staying up and every day and it's like and motivate your own self like I got this.

Yeah, But you can't pinpoint a particular moment that brought you to to a pause, a soft pause. Even the pandemic I mean, I'll tell you right now, the pandemic brought me to a screeching hope.

I literally forgot that the rest of.

It, I couldn't know.

I couldn't because I got out on kids, so I could never pall because I I every time I sit back, somebody needs some.

So I just ain't never had that moment.

I'm talking about a brief like there's a small chance I won't make it. I mean, every day I do, I work and everything, there's still that and it could just be me. There's still that small whisper that, you know, maybe you're a little crazy for even continue to keep trying. But I'm definitely like I have the good side in the bass. I have the good side that's like keep going and I have the basket. It's like, girl, what are you gonna quit it?

You know?

But you don't ever have to feel. I ain't never hear that that Holy Spirit is strong on you.

I ain't never heard that because I knew even if I Jesus, Jesus had told me I was in my spirit and he done brought too many things to pass. I'm like, I know I am, and I look at in my industry at people skill level and I'm like, yeah, it came here from me.

I'm gonna get there. So no, I ain't never had that moment.

Okay, well maybe thref on me. But thank you so much for coming out your way again.

Yeah.

I really appreciate it, like more than you know.

I know, I really do. I appreciate you too. Man, you got a great spirit and I just want you to continue being who you are. And God see you. Man, God see you. It's gonna be people look over you come. You got a spirit like that. The devil run this world, but God see you, and he got a position for you. He got he got he see what you're doing. And and when he touched it he said yes one time. They the devil said yes all day, but his yes is don't mean nothing.

Yeah, I appreciate it. Someone told me that eating wh Broke, So Eating whe Broke is technically.

A positive podcast, but uh someone said that, you know, the other podcasts out in the world are like the baby, and I'm like coming, like you know, coming, it's good for you, but the baby's popping, so you know, of course it can be frustrating to see like other podcasts just take off and they're kind of like, say, you know, I don't curse.

In my comedy, but but I'm getting that bad I go on to a curzy commedians it just stay man, stay your course.

Yeah, and stay your course and watch.

Watch, yeah, watch, and one day you guys will see me cook a real vegan dish.

Yeah, that's what we're waiting on.

That's what we're weighing on. I'll send you a little clip of it too.

But thank you so much for taking your time out of your crazy schedule, flying all the way to LA to sit down with us and put us in your schedule on I'm thankful you cook for me this time.

You're welcome.

Thank you, guys, and then check a country weighing out on the Netflix special. You can follow him on social media. Is there any other thing that I should know? You could get his book at Barnes and Noble.

Yeah, yeah, we got a book. We got Oh we can't. Oh, I can promote Nelson.

It's so funny.

I've been trying to convince Wayne to do a podcast, so please guys, slide into his DMS. I got some ideas, and you know, I'm trying to see if you know he could just shoot a couple and like, see what goes out there.

But I think you'd be great A podcasts just one more thing. You already got the rest of your resume popping yet, all right?

Peace out

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