Wake that ass up in the morning.
The Breakfast Club, yep, Charlamagne to God, just hilarious.
We are the Breakfast Club.
Ndia's not here today, but we got a legend in the building.
Man, the great David Allen grizz Man. Y'all have changed, m elevated and all kind of new host when you had a chair, sir. No, it's good to be here, man, just one. I'm great. Man, woke up. That's right, you know, that's right.
I'm here. You look so good still?
Not that is that a? Yeah? It is? You look so good still? You know you always.
So Now I love it.
I'm the American Society of Magical Negroes, Yes, sir, What is this movie about?
Well, you know, magical negro was a trope that Spike Lee coined back in the nineties, and Negroes that character. We all know. He's all knowing, all wise, black character, no backstory, no family. He was just a dude hanging around and he had to answer for everything. He was like, I can fix that rocket ship, you know, driving Miss Daisy the Green Mile. You know we've seen all that stuff.
So it's about a society, a mysical society of these black people all over the world that de escalate and intercede in conflicts with white folks to save and preserve black lives. That's basically what it is.
Yeah, it was interesting to watch and a lot to think about because I feel like black people we do have that kind of power, right, we do have that kind of magic, but just like in the movie, we don't use it the harm anyone or takeover you know.
No, it's it's about survival, yes, really, And my character is I'm trying to recruit this young dude by played by Justice Smith and get him into the society. And I'm a recruiter basically, you know. And of course he doesn't follow the rules as young people do. And the movie takes gone from there.
That is it a movie for white people?
Because the title itself, they wouldn't even be comfortable saying it.
But like, you know what, you'd be surprised the reaction people, the reaction to the clip. You know, this is the world we live in. Nobody saw the movie. They just reacted to the clip. White people would come to me, can I say that?
I was like, say what.
The in word? I was like what in word? So it was like negro is the other in word, it was like, y'all are more worried about negro than you are the real in words, So that was a paradox. I mean, I'm older than you, guys. I grew up in a time in which, during this civil rights struggle we aspire to be called negroes as opposed to but that was long ago. So it's a sorry, it's a satire. It's a commentary on all of that whole notion, a little love story and all of that mixed together.
But it's interesting though, because in the movie, like you know, they are trying to make white people comfortable, but it's a movie that will make them uncomfortable.
I think, yes, well that's the subversion, because you know, some black people like, well we will make nobody comfortable. Yeah, I think some black people want it to be like like the Magical Society would be really a subversive, militant group taking out all racist white folks. But that's not really a movie. That's not really this movie. But yeah, man, I mean that's what we're doing.
But when you make a movie, you wanted to I guess reach a broad audience, right, or do.
You care if this one does? Always? All?
Right?
I mean, that is the goal. But you know Toby, our writer and director, he's the first time writer director black. And I say that because I've been asked a lot of times. You know, what was your first question after I read the script? Well, my first question is did a black person write this? Because I'm gonna tell you why. If I would have been told, oh, this is the first time white director, I don't know if I would have done it because I didn't want to spend six
to eight weeks and believe me, I've done this. Well, I have to explain black exactly. Man, I can't say this, this is offensive. You need to rethink this. I didn't want to. That's why. Yeah, No, I didn't want to do that. So once I found that out, I said, okay. And I like working with young directors of color, young women of color directors, you know, because I call it.
It's why my way of mentoring in terms of of I want to show you how you should be treated on a set as a young director, because I've seen I've been in situations in which the director is arguing with the cinematographer, with the lighting designer. You can't do that. I want to shoot no and we're not gonna do that. So I, you know, I wanted to kind of show through action, this is how it should be run. We didn't have any trouble. It was you know, it was a great, great experience.
So you played Roger. Yeah, so when you first were presented the role, what about it like got you interested in being a sci fi comedy doing it?
Well, you know, I know black men like that. I mean, I was exposed to when I when I was young and growing up in Detroit. My dad was a doctor. I grew up around doctors, lawyer's, professional black families. But I didn't want that. I wanted to be an artist. I wanted to be an actor. So I got that he should go to law school. Yeah, that kind of thing.
It's funny. My grandmother was born in nineteen hundred, so she would tell me stories much like the one I say in the movie about these racist incidents and then are segregated America in the South, And as a little boy, I would say, well, Grandma, why didn't you fight back? And she would say that was the way it was, you know, and I don't want that.
Yeah, I didn't want that.
I'm gonna fight back. So that's always the way it is the next generation. They don't want to wait. They don't want to wait. John Lewis was the radical young voice in the movement, and he was the one advocating, we gotta yell louder, we have to fight harder. I'm tired of marching and praying. So there's always that friction. So a lot of that is goes on between me and Justice where he's like negroes, I mean, magical man, Come on, why don't you magical society of black folks?
I mean do something about the name, you know. So there's all that playfulness and stuff.
It felt like justin throughout the whole movie was struggling with belief in himself.
Well. Absolutely. It all leads up to that final speech where it to me, it really hits home. I just want to live in a society and you, when you're not trying to kill me, I deserve to be here, be in this presence. Uh. One of the one of the craziest b linds when he's talking to his white co worker and they're talking about on Lee, who's a love interest, and uh, Justice calls him out about some microaggression and he says, well, I didn't know she was
a personal color. I thought she was white, so therefore I'm could, you know, you know, it's like, what was she white? I couldn't. She's biracial and nobody. I've had situations like that, why, you know, or a black person who is mainly Afro Caribbean and they're saying some foul stuff. Well, I don't know. I didn't know. So if I'm in the clear, you know, and all those nuances that I really like because it's real too. I mean, I know, I've been through it. Yeah, and it's funny.
You talked about the backlash, and I guess I saw a little bit of it when the trailer first debut, and it was like they making a movie and it's a.
Bunch of black people with magical power, but they try to make white people. They wanted they cloned Tyrone, they wanted us to come out with gun you know, No, that's not what it is. And but you know, I was never worried because at that point nobody had seen the movie. Again, you're responding to a thirty second clip. But that's the world we live in. Yeah, it's you know, social media, people go say what they're gonna say, yeah.
I didn't look at it that they were trying to make white people comfortable in the movie. I looked at it as they were trying to be comfortable, like they were trying to just figure life out into exactly.
Now, I'll tell you something. This happened when I was in tenth grade in Detroit. I remember a Detroit police officer was brought into a class my classroom, and he walked us through surviving a stop with the police. Now, I doubt if it happens now. So he basically he gave us the talk and it went like this. He said, you know, when a police officer pulls you over, what are you gonna do? When we were kids, I'm not gonna do anohing. I'm gonna say why'd you pull me over?
And he said, well, you could say that, but what I would suggest is you keep your hands on the steering wheel and you roll down the window. Well, why he can't make me roll down the window? Absolutely right, But keep in mind that gentleman has a firearm. You probably don't now he's upset with a firearm. I would suggest you roll down the window because if you don't roll it down, he's gonna break it. So we went point by point by point by point how to survive.
You can fight in court. Now, you could fight at the roadside, but you have a better chance of survival to fight in court. So those are the kinds of things that I experienced as a young person, and I think a lot of that goes into that character. I'm not that character, but I understand that character. You know that kind of thing.
Why don't just why in your opinion, why don't you think we use our gifts more too?
I don't want to say takeover. I don't think takeover is the right word.
But I keep thinking about that sister who once said white people should be lucky. Black people only want equality and not well, I.
Was just about to say that. I don't know. I mean, I can't speak for everyone, but I think it's funny what justice says at the end is what most human beings want. I just want my space. I want to be able to live and prosper in peace. I don't want to have to fight for my survival. Imagine you could be killed, maimed, robbed, your loved ones in peril every day, and for some black people it is that way. We want. What everyone wants. What we want is not extraordinary,
not any different. We want the same thing. So all of the stuff that's put on race, culture, and ethnicity, for the most part, is false because we're human beings just like everybody else. So the stuff we're fighting for is freedom to be free. Maybe we should be more revengeful. I don't know some folks are in Hollywood.
Is there such thing as having to make white people comfortable in order to work?
No? But I mean, you know what I think back, You know, I audition for some of the magical negro roles. I was just too crazy to get them. The Davis reading for Rassus, I'll drive you. I was always to nuddy to my to my benefit, you know. But h yeah, man, we all dorew I mean, not everybody, but those because you know, in the eighties there was Eddie Murphy was before Spike Lee and these other voices. He was the black comic lead, you know, who took over for Richard Pryor.
But now we have all these black creators, black female creators, say Ava du Vernay, who's a revolutionary, you know, So we have more voices. That makes it healthier. The one question I hate is you know, Charlemagne, what do all black people think? Charlemagne, Charlemagne, what do all black people want? Charlemagne, Charlemagne? Who are all black people going to vote for? I don't know, you know what I mean? I encourage everyone to vote. I'm not sitting here trying to tell you
who are what to vote for. But we have a healthier democracy when more people participate. So that's where I'm met. Now.
Speaking of voices, you are the voice of the Oscar.
Yeah, you know, it was so much fun. Man. I'm old friends with Jimmy Kimmel, and first of all, I defy you to tell me who was the voice last year. So you have been offered a job like it was really great, but you don't even know what the job is. So my first question was, well, how many tickets do I get? I was thinking about the party. You know, I have a sixteen year old daughter and when she was a little girl, she said, Daddy, take me to the Oscars. And if you have little kids, they think
you could do everything. I was like, okay, I mean, but you got to get a movie, and you got to finance the movie, and you got to cast me, Daddy in the lead in the movie, and then you gotta hope Daddy gets nominated for an Oscar. Then we all gonna go to the Oscars. And she was like, you're so silly. So it was great to take her to the Oscars and we had a great evening and it turned out to be a ball man. I mean, my job was not to screw up anybody's name and don't mess up the name of the movie. But I
didn't really. I wasn't on under pressure. It was, you know, I'm cool. It was really really fun. Though.
What do you think about people supporting this movie like the American Society and Magical Negroes and you hear that automatically all black people feel like they should go out and support this film. What do you feel like if they don't listen.
I would not be here if I didn't believe in the movie. I would say, go watch it. If you don't want to watch it, that's fine. I ain't gonna come to your house and you know, kill you. We all have a choice. It should be an evening of entertainment, and a great viewing experience is one that elongates a conversation because you know, good and well, if you see a great show or if you see a great movie, what are you gonna do. You're gonna text your friends,
You're gonna tell your loved ones. Man, you gotta come see this. So if we're successful, that's what should happen. And again, I you know, I think the movie is really funny. It's a new voice, a new black voice that I really love to support. And hopefully he will hire me again, you know, But that's why I'm here. I feel like it's set up for a sequel. Yeah, I don't know, I hope so yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, it was fun man. And you know, only this young the love interest. This is her first job. I think
really like dang girl. She came out blazing. Man, I think she's really good. I'm just glad you're not white.
I don't want to get a movie away, but I was perturbed at the end.
I'm like, if you really you know, but if you really listen, that is really kind of where they connect in that basis. And also they don't really we do touch on justices. He's a biracial kid, because I think at one point he tells me you know this and that, But I'm just like, you black enough to be a magical Negro come join our club. You know, it's Matt.
I Also it made me think like the magical Negro trope. And I know Spike Lee made it up, but isn't that's something that like white people think in a way, It's like like Barack Obama is a magical need.
But they they created it. We didn't create it. We didn't create that. No white people did. And traditionally to have that character with that is not a whole human that is like a spirit, a cipher. I mean, this is like an angelic figure. You know, That's not what we wanted. What we wanted is to be included as whole people, whole human beings. But ultimately, you can't depend on someone else to tell your story. You have to
tell it yourself. Now, the way it used to be, we weren't allowed to tell it ourselves, and I still got up until a few years ago. David, we like your idea, but it's not us. It's the international mark. You know, Black movies are very hard to sell, this and that, so there's still all of that out there. But in fact, mixed race casts of big movies are
the biggest sellers in the world market. The fast and furious franchise Say What you Want has the most diverse cast probably of any franchise, and it is the biggest selling and one of the reasons is that. Okay, so for a long time we were sold a story that was not true. And we're changing. I say, we the industry, they whatever you want to call it, not enough, but we're changing.
You know, I think Hollywood lies. And the reason I say Hollywood lies, they do. They'll say, oh, you know, it's it's about the money. But I know, I think your bias is trump the money a lot of times.
Well also power. You know. I remember remember when Barack Obama was first elected and I was watching I think it was in an MSNBC, and the reporters were just giddy because it's a fact that the electorate is changing and becoming blacker and browner every day, and yay, we're going to be in power. And I sat at home going, you don't think white people can hear you. You don't think they're listening, because to expect someone to relinquish power
gracefully is a fantasy. To expect the old power structure to say, well, it's our turn and give us the keys. Okay, it doesn't go like that, And I think that really is at the root of what we're seeing now because if the electorate is changing now all of a sudden, you hear the maga crowd going, well, maybe a dictator is not that bad because the numbers are not working
in there, So you know that's what it is. I knew this was coming because you know, it's just it through history and never gone like that.
Being an o G in comedy and I'm a comedian myself, so I would like to know this. What are your throws on all like the beef with the comics and everything that's going on right now.
First of all, what I was going to say when I walked in here, as I said, you need some brown lick up in here? Common over there? No, no, you need it right here now. It's common sense. Watch club. I love it's the ratio of SIPs, ma'am. He takes one sip while the guest is taking five or six. I saw Mounique about it. After hour in she was licking up. She would lubricated. I don't think Sharon drinking it all. No, man, watch it again, he's real slick, he goes. I think that's Charlie, Man, who you want
to kill every I won't kill everybody, you know? He said, here, have some more. He was like, charl man, you want to slap everybody? You know? Man, you didn't get me up in there. My advice is bring your own cop. Bring your own cop. Man. Stop drinking. What is in that bottle? Damn y'all man, that's not really my thing. Man, I don't do all that. And at this point, if somebody goes on Club shad Shape, they're loaded. I mean
they packed. You're going there for a purpose. You're not going there to talk about your big new novel you wrote. You're trying to settle some scores. It's crazy, man, it is crazy. I'm just a spectator. I don't think I've seen one interview in its entirety because they go like two three hours. Yeah, I've seen clips. It's bizarre. I'm like, y'all, I'm drinking coffee, going damn, I guess they don't like each other. Yes, yeah, man.
It does make me wonder what happens to the game, because when I think about the nineties, you feel like, at least from my viewpoint, it looked like everybody was working together, right, it looked like there was you know, black.
There's always been that we're human beings. There's always been petty, jealousy, envy, I want your spot. You mad about some stuff that happened in club dingling back and you know, twenty years ago and now it's just coming to the fore. It's human nature. But it's just not my vibe. Yeah, it's not my vibe. You know, we can talk outside. Man, I ain't got to blow you up on the air, but it is wild. I don't know where it's going
to lead, you know. Uh, it's funny. When Cat was on there, everybody was, oh my gosh, this is amazing. Now they're like, no, this is is a lot club. Everybody's mad while like a.
Cat drink drinking like that he was, but Cat wasn't.
He wasn't drinking like everybody else be drink.
Usually. Cat was a man. Cat is a unique individual. This brother has sprint speed, sprint speed. Yeah, and you know when I look at him, I think about what he did on Atlanta that was so brilliant. Emmy. I would really love to see him in a more expanded dramatic role. I really don't think anyone's tapped that part
of him because he was so good, so real. He reminds me of that aspect of Richard Pryor, like when you see Richard Pryor in a blue collar It was one of my favorites where it was funny, but it was also about class and the auto industry and all this stuff. So that's what I would hope for.
I'm sure if I dug around, I could find some like psychological studies on why comedians are able to go between drama and comedy so easily, Like guess, really a thin line between comedy.
Absolutely, you know, in times of like tartuff, back in ancient times, comedians were the most dangerous figures because they tell the most truth through laughter, and that's subversive. Man. And I'm gonna tell you something else. Donald Trump putin all these leaders. They don't like to be laughed at, and that is the easiest and most potent way to bring a tyrant down. You make fun of them, you know. So there's always been that dichotomy. And as you know,
in school, comics are the most damaged ones. They have been through everything, and a lot of times you deflect, I know I did as a kid deflect many an ass woman through laughter. So you know that's just what that is.
You know what I want to see this last question.
I know, I go listen, I would like to see a Living Color reboot.
And asked me last time, we can't do that.
Why even if you write for it, and then you caiss me.
That's what I do think. I think in the next generation has to do their version of it. You know, you guys say that. It was like remember coming to America. Everybody goes, oh, man, you should bring that back. Oh they should reboot that. They rebooted, and everybody said, well, y'all didn't do it right.
Yeah.
I mean it's like the original movie was a comedy. It was not a history of ancient African royalty. So you know you wanted to bring it back and then you want it to be what it should be today. We just can't do it. We were buck wild and even when we put Yeah, when we put in Living Color on, there was no social media. You could call the station, you could write a letter where you could facts. You didn't have a voice that you could immediately counter
and protest what you're watching. So I remember the head Leaves, which was the Jamaican family. We were saying so many Jamaican curse words. Fox didn't know what we were saying. The Jamaican viewers did by the time they wrote in and told Fox we were on to the next thing. Yeah, so that's how we got ahead of the sensors. But it's more media now.
Yeah, I guess what, I guess what it is about all of us younger comments. We just we look at that. That's the stuff we look up to, and that's the stuff that we wish we could do. That's the stuff we want to see. And it's not coming to fruition these days.
It's different, man, because as soon as you utter there on it, why do you say that you're wrong, You're bad, apologize, take it back. They could take it down. And it was guerrilla television when we did the super Bowl halftime, and think about it, before in Living Color did that. The super Bowl halftime entertainment were like, you know, Christian young people up with people, you know, square dancing. There
was no competition. And what happened was after we got that audience, people did not turn back to the super Bowl. That's why the next year you saw Michael Jackson, you saw all kind of stuff because of us, and I think more people know it now, but for a long time it wasn't really talked about. I mean that that shows you the power you know there you can still get wild and plus now maybe you don't have to
be on network television. You remember when Prince he put I think it was musicology straight out digital, and I'm like, oh, this dude is crazy. Ain't nobody gonna download the album. It's not gonna work. He was ahead of his time. He's ahead of his time. So I would probably say that if you're gonna do something really crazy, go that route, release it yourself, do a podcast yourself. Then you're uncensored. Your voice is pure. I don't know how many people to watch, but and that I'm.
Very unsensited, and I think I'm in the wrong job, like.
You know, because waitlow down.
And I've already been slapped with like eight phobia stuff I never even heard of.
They told me today, you bibliophobic.
I say, I love the Bible.
And that's how she knows she's doing it right because to her point, I think what she's saying, what showed like a living color, y'all represented a sense of freedom. I think if you're getting if everybody coming at you and saying you said this, and you said that, you shouldn't have said that, you should have said that, you're doing it right.
You're absolutely right. Everything is not for everybody. And if you perform and uh tell your jokes, your humor, and everybody happy, then that's homoginized. Uh, that's a deluded, just bland stuff. And we don't like. I don't like that. I don't mean a little something. Stay dangerous. You know what I want to ask you for?
You go in the nineties too, like, because you know there's all of these conversations about all, you shouldn't wear the dress and you shouldn't do it y'all did men on film men will addresses?
We just laughed.
I didn't think nothing of it back then.
When did that change? I think I understand our history. I understand black people's history. I eat black men's history in this country. But we weren't the only ones. Every major comic of any race has cross dressed. I don't do it in real life. If I did, that's another thing. But I did it like thirty years ago. But there is this thing of you know, black men being emasculated and all that stuff. I don't look at it as that deep. It was a comic device, so I don't
really hang too much on it. But there does seem to be this almost fetish about it about us. There's some truth in it, but there's also an over fascination in just that. Let me just put it like this, there are a lot of black people and black people in power who are being compromised and manipulated that never put on a dress. Okay, So don't get hung up on just that. And one more thing I wanted to say. I know you get flack for how you speak about the electorate and who you want to support. We need
that voice. We need that voice because at the end of the day, I trust people are smart enough to decide for themselves. So speak your mind, That's all I'm saying. Absolute. Yeah, man, love seeing you.
Guys, say man, David Allen Griddy. The American Society of Magical Negros is.
Out so now right today today, okay, So make sure y'all go check that out. Don't make me put a dress on again. I don't want to do it in the morning club.