Episode description

Jay Ellis visits Google to discuss his book "Did Everyone Have an Imaginary Friend (or Just Me)?"

What do you do when you’re the perpetual new kid, only child, and military brat hustling school to school each year and everyone’s looking to you for answers? Make stuff up, of course! And a young Jay Ellis does just that, with help from his imaginary friend, Mikey.

A testament to the importance of invention, trusting oneself, and making space for creativity, "Did Everyone Have an Imaginary Friend (or Just Me)?" is a memoir of a kid who confided in his imaginary sidekick to navigate parallel pop culture universes to a lifetime of birthday disappointment and basketball dreams gone bad. Mikey also guides Ellis through tragedies, like losing his teenage cousin in a mistaken-target drive-by and the shame and fear of being pulled over by cops almost a dozen times the year he got his driver’s license.

As his imaginary friend morphs into adult consciousness, Ellis charts an unforgettable story of looking inward to solve some of life’s biggest (and smallest) challenges. Now an accomplished actor, philanthropist, and entrepreneur, Jay is best known for his role as Lawrence on HBO’s Insecure, for which he won an NAACP Image Award.

Visit http://youtube.com/TalksAtGoogle/ to watch the video.