Prepare to crack a rib as we unearth the laughter treasure with our guest, the uproarious Cletus Kassady. Ever wondered how a seasoned comedian navigates the world of comedy? Well, Cletus gives us a hilarious sneak peek into the behind-the-scenes world of comedy, shedding light on his natural wit and humor that has been his defense mechanism since childhood. This knee-slapper of an episode takes you through Cletus's journey from radio to BET and opening for prominent comedian Ali Siddiq, all while staying true to his authentic self and his dedication to his comic craft. And oh, the celebrities he's met along the way - Magic Johnson, DC Curry, and DL Hughley to name a few! But Cletus's humble charm remains unscathed, reminding us that stars are just people too.
But the comedy industry isn't all fun and games. We discuss the challenges comedians face in an industry that can be surprisingly competitive and the impact of social media - a blessing and a curse. It may launch careers, but it can also dilute the essence of comedy. But fear not, we believe in the power of collaboration, much like Kevin Hart and the Plastic Cup Boys. We also yearn for Virginia, Cletus's home state, to become a recognized talent hub where comedians can thrive. In our quest to understand the art of comedy, we dive into the transitions comedians often make, drawing from Eddie Murphy's venture into reggae music. And of course, Cletus's innovative vision for a more organized comedy scene in Virginia couldn't go unnoticed.
Strap in for a ride through the world of comedy, with Cletus Kassady unique insights into the industry he loves, his determination to evolve, and his views on comedy merchandise. And guess what? The laughter doesn't stop here. We have an upcoming comedy special featuring Cletus Kassady himself, and we couldn't be more thrilled! So, join us, share in the laughs, learn a thing or two about the comedy industry, and show your support for Cletus Kassady,a comedian who knows how to keep the laughter rolling!
https://noidmediallc.komi.io
Prepare to crack a rib as we unearth the laughter treasure with our guest, the uproarious Cletus Kassady. Ever wondered how a seasoned comedian navigates the world of comedy? Well, Cletus gives us a hilarious sneak peek into the behind-the-scenes world of comedy, shedding light on his natural wit and humor that has been his defense mechanism since childhood. This knee-slapper of an episode takes you through Cletus's journey from radio to BET and opening for prominent comedian Ali Siddiq, all while staying true to his authentic self and his dedication to his comic craft. And oh, the celebrities he's met along the way - Magic Johnson, DC Curry, and DL Hughley to name a few! But Cletus's humble charm remains unscathed, reminding us that stars are just people too.
But the comedy industry isn't all fun and games. We discuss the challenges comedians face in an industry that can be surprisingly competitive and the impact of social media - a blessing and a curse. It may launch careers, but it can also dilute the essence of comedy. But fear not, we believe in the power of collaboration, much like Kevin Hart and the Plastic Cup Boys. We also yearn for Virginia, Cletus's home state, to become a recognized talent hub where comedians can thrive. In our quest to understand the art of comedy, we dive into the transitions comedians often make, drawing from Eddie Murphy's venture into reggae music. And of course, Cletus's innovative vision for a more organized comedy scene in Virginia couldn't go unnoticed.
Strap in for a ride through the world of comedy, with Cletus Kassady unique insights into the industry he loves, his determination to evolve, and his views on comedy merchandise. And guess what? The laughter doesn't stop here. We have an upcoming comedy special featuring Cletus Kassady himself, and we couldn't be more thrilled! So, join us, share in the laughs, learn a thing or two about the comedy industry, and show your support for Cletus Kassady,a comedian who knows how to keep the laughter rolling!
https://noidmediallc.komi.io
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another episode of the no ID podcast is me, your boy, rome Davis. I have here Icon in the game. You seen him at the funny bone. You seen him on my car is morning radio show. He's traveling all around doing comedy. He is one of, I would say, virginia goats, but I don't want to put him in the spot of Virginia because this man has moved outside of Virginia comedy scene so far, inspiration for me to get out of Virginia comedy scene. I'm not going to say overrated, underrated, but I am going to say this man is rated funny, the one and only Cleetus Cassidy. What's going on, brother?
Speaker 2:What's going on, man? I don't know what to call you Rome, romy, rome JD. Mr Davis is your show, so I want to make sure I'm respectful and everything that I do, man. But thank you so much for having me on, man. I really appreciate it.
Speaker 1:Man, I appreciate you even giving me the opportunity to bless you with the interview. Oh hella, nervous, trying to manage like I emailed you.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Yeah, you was a little bit. You know, you slid into the DMs. It was a little weird. No, I don't know what to do. No, I really appreciate it. I think that I got a different kind of mindset. With that kind of stuff, man, I'm really approachable. I love when people reach out and talk. I don't have a problem with reaching back and talking to people or sharing my experiences or things like that man. So I'm honored. Anytime anybody feels like they want to ask me questions, I'm like word, let's get it. You know what I'm saying yeah, man.
Speaker 1:So let's just get right into it.
Speaker 2:Let's get right into it Earlier.
Speaker 1:like I told you, man, I've seen you all around, but about two and a half weeks ago was the first time I actually saw you in person and it was at Ileesa D. And when I'm telling you, me and my date were weak as hell when you did the big, titty broad joke. You demonstrated what she go through. I just want to know how did you get your starting comedy lead? What made you do it?
Speaker 2:Man, so my kind of flow in comedy is a little different than a lot of people's. Man, I never grew up wanting to do comedy. I didn't have that as a as a mind goal. Like you know, some people wake up every day and they like they got that a sistaic to you. Wake up in the morning and think you were singing and you were singing. That won't ever my thing, man.
Speaker 2:I went to college to be a gym teacher because I was like man who does the most work, I mean, who gets the most money without we're doing the least work? And I was like gym teachers. I had never seen a gym teacher. And then it was like man, I had a hard day at work. Man, you throw a ball out, you go sit in the corner, you call it a day.
Speaker 2:So naturally my personality has always been with and things of that nature, man, and in fact I just did. I just spoke to a group of people recently and I let them know that humor for me had always been a defense mechanism. I use it as a defense mechanism, man, like when I was growing up, we grew up, we grew up po, because we couldn't afford an OR. That was a lot. So we just we can get a P and a O, but that was a lot, man, we ate at a restaurant called po folks. That's exactly what we was with it. So I got joked and different things like that. We grew up in the hood so I had to use it to fight back. So I had to be able to be smart enough and witty enough to joke with anybody. Let anybody know, yo don't even start it.
Speaker 2:So it got to a point where I was just that good and nobody would. Even they was like yo, that ain't the one you wanted with. You know what I'm saying. Where, you know, you had guys who physically you didn't want it with. They knew verbally, yo, that that ain't the one. Like he got on a peritonics man, but just let them live. So that was that. But so it was just a natural progression for me and I think sometimes the old saying that you know we want to walk it to a certain path, though we want, you know, god answer our prayers, Like a lot of times he already got everything set up for us and he's waiting on us to walk it to it. And so that's what happened with me, man, like my stuff just ended up being why I ended up on stage Like I went to college to be a PE teacher, ended up on the radio from there, ended up working at BET. There, bet, just doing a standup Like never been in the classroom to teach. So it's crazy.
Speaker 1:Man. I appreciate that man. You're a beast.
Speaker 2:I'm just up there trying to find my niche and just try to do me. I think that's the easiest thing for people. It's like you got to do me Like I'm on that show. You can't see me when I'm opening for Ali, and to me, ali's the deep top five in the game right now. You know what I'm saying. So do you get intimidated by that? That's the thing. Do you get intimidated by being on the show with somebody who's top five or do you try to be like well, look, man, it's five spots. You know what I'm saying. Let me get one of those spots too. So I just try to go up there and do me and comedy subjective. So either you're going to like it or you're not going to like it, but I'm going to give you the best of me while I'm on that stage. It's not going to be intimidated by it and that's all I try to do.
Speaker 1:It is top five. Yeah, top five, my top five. You work with them every day. Well, you've been on this show and I've been on this show, michael Coyer. And how did that come about with Michael Coyer? Michael Coyer.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm not on this show anymore. We just kind of split and went, you know, separate ways on that one man, you know. But we Kobe and Shaq, that thing. But Coyer, somebody called you has a. He has a comedy section that he does on his show daily. Somebody recommended that I do it. He calls me.
Speaker 2:I pretty much think it's a prank call. I get a phone call. He's like yo, this Michael Coyer. I was like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, and I'm doing that, watching it, like I'm getting that call. He's like no, it really is, michael Coyer, man, can you do a set on my show?
Speaker 2:You'd like three minutes and I was like, oh cool, I didn't know him. He didn't know me. Just out of the blue I go on there. I killed the three minutes. He was like yo, you killed the three minutes, I need you to come back again. I was like, all right, just let me know. He literally called me like that next week. He's like yo, can you come back again? So I came back again. When I came back that time, he's like oh, like, I just need you to start coming on more.
Speaker 2:And so I ended up going from just being a guest to end up being one of the co-hosts and producers of the show and then kind of traveled and did some dates with him Not sex, because then I don't want nobody thinking that went wrong. I want to make sure that got in clearly S-E-T-S, s-e-s-s. Sometimes it's good to have a Southern draw, sometimes it ain't. But I ended up going on the road with him for a few shows. We did a few cities and so that's how that just kind of established man.
Speaker 2:So that was cool, it was a cool period Be able to do that man. But I'm doing mine, he's doing his. It's cool. But shout out to Mike Carl, you man Just reaching out. It was on the blur, and that's the thing I tell people be prepared for whatever may come for you. A lot of people don't think they can be prepared for success. You got to be ready to rock. You got to be ready to go when people be like, oh I, here's your chance. You got to be able to take it and run with it.
Speaker 1:That's right you got to. Yeah, you just got to walk that path. I got it all figured out for you because you ain't got to figure it out. Man, I know what you want to do.
Speaker 2:Man, I was horrible in math so you know my figure is bad. So there ain't no way I'm going to worry about somebody else figure. I can't figure nothing out, man Like you. Look at me. I'm barely in this little box. Man, you got your whole body in the box on the screen. Man, I am barely in here, it's just hand and shoulders, Bro.
Speaker 1:I'm sitting up right now. I'm trying to hide the COVID belly that's going down right now.
Speaker 2:Oh man, at least yours is COVID belly, mine was before COVID. Now that I know that we can blame it on COVID, that's what I'm calling mine. Man, look at this COVID belly, this COVID 36.
Speaker 1:COVID, 42,. Man, I'm taking it, whatever it was. I feel bad because you got your hat on. I got my hairline showing. Oh seriously, you have a hairline. That's the whole thing. I do not man my hairline and my eyebrows got in a terrible argument, man, and they was like look, one of us got to go.
Speaker 2:And so the hairline left, and I was like I'm going to go, I'm going to go, I'm going to go, I'm going to go, I'm going to go, I'm going to go, I'm going to go, I'm going to go. And so the hairline left and it's just eyebrows left. So that's what I do and I don't fight it, man. No woman is going to know what's really going on until I'm locked in. You're going to get a hat on me at all times. I'm going to bed in a hat, I'm waking up, skull caps, everything. It's not until you, all the way in, you ain't going to know what's going on underneath here, man, this is an ancient Chinese secret underneath my head. Man, I can't do it. I recently went to the hospital, man. This is no lie, man. Before they put me on the ambulance, I was like yo, let me grab a cap real quick. It's not going to happen, because I'm going to die back here and people know what's going on in my head. No, sir.
Speaker 1:Damn man. How has the comedy scene been? Because, like I said, you've been around and got the word will out of names and still establishing your name. How has that been? Have you gotten star struck yet?
Speaker 2:No, I still am not star struck. Yet there's two things that happen for me, man, I've worked with every man, if you really name it DL DC Curry, alisa Deek, just about nephew time me, of course, kevin Stase, their friend of mine, cal Tony Baker, to hear I've worked with everybody right, I don't get star struck and I think that when you get star struck is when you don't feel like you belong where they are too Right. So a lot of my esteem has come from and I'll tell you really who put me in that place and this is gonna sound weird, but it was Magic Johnson. Magic Johnson, I did a show, like you said. I've been into it a while, so I'm kinda dating myself. One of my first things I was still in college.
Speaker 2:Alan Iveson used to have a celebrity softball game. So Alan Iveson has this celebrity softball game. I ended up being the host of the celebrity softball game. So I did celebrity softball game. You got Magic Johnson playing Kevin Garnett, everybody from BET, like it's a who's who, a who's who of people for that time frame. So Magic Johnson is at this show, at this game. He's playing in a softball game. At the end of the game I go down to get Magic Johnson's autograph. And Magic Johnson says to me dawg, why would I give you my autograph? You are bigger stars I have. And I was like no, because you, first of all, you're Magic Johnson. You're internationally known, locally accepted just nobody's having sex with you. But other than that, like you're Magic Johnson.
Speaker 2:So that night in the green room they had an after party. That night we're in the back. They got like a green room for like all the VIPs At the time, hits for the Street was on BET. It was a big show. Me and Hits are in there going back and forth. We just playing the dozens. I'm giving him the business. We going back and forth, like he giving me, I'm coming right back with him. It got so bad the promoter had to make all the stars leave. He's like can y'all please go out in this party Cause we uncharged all these people. But Magic Johnson, all these people, they all want to sit. Magic Johnson, kevin Garnett, who's to this day the blackest person I've ever seen in my life, like they all wanted to stay in this room to hear me and Hits going back and forth.
Speaker 2:At this time Hits got a Hits show. You know what I'm saying. So for me. I realized at that point in time man, you're just as good as they are. They're humans. They shop at Target, walmart, all that kind of stuff.
Speaker 2:So I don't necessarily get star struck. I do appreciate the moments of working with people. Working with Ali to me, I really appreciated that moment, cause that's my guy. Like I said, I respect him that much. Dc Curry same thing. When I did my show with DC Curry I was like dog. I'm in the room with DC Curry. Dl Hugley took me out to eat with him. Afterwards I'm sitting at the table with DL Hugley. I'm like dog. I'm sitting at the table with DL Hugley and he felt that I was enough of his peer to invite me to come eat with him. You know what I'm saying. He invited me to come break bread with him. Now I don't ever take any of it for granted. I'm gonna soak up all the knowledge and information I can get from them. I'm still humble around them, but I don't get star struck if that makes any sense.
Speaker 1:It makes sense. It makes sense Now. I got star struck when I did a show for DL Hugley last year, cause that's somebody that studied, whatever the case may have you. But when we met in that green room, at the funny bone he just introduced himself like a normal person working that target, like he was just like a normal.
Speaker 2:He ain't not an abnormal dude. At the end of the day, you realize all of these guys are people. They just have excelled in their careers. Nobody walks into McDonald's and be like, oh my God, it's a cashier. You know what I'm saying. If all y'all put on that McDonald's shirt, we all get in she ain't like oh my God, he's on fries. I can't believe you're talking to the fry guy. If Grimmis walk in, you just like what up Big G and you keep it moving, you know.
Speaker 1:Big Fags.
Speaker 2:I would probably if I had to get started. It would probably be like some musician that I've never worked with or whatever. Like it would have to be like if Lauren Hill walked in the room and I would probably miss her, cause she'll be like three hours late.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I saw that video. She been doing that shit for over 20 years. All right, then, the time, the time she on it.
Speaker 2:I don't know why people go to Lauren Hill concerts at this point, expecting her to be on time, like that's on you, like at this point, it's your fault for going and expecting her to be on time, but she's still my fave. Like I would probably get started with Stevie Wonder. Stevie Wonder, if I walk in the room, stevie Wonder's in the room, I probably wouldn't have nothing to say, I'd probably just be like, and I'd be like oh my God, don't let them see me.
Speaker 1:He be like yeah, I watch you stand up all the time clean this oh my God, I'd laugh it like wild Stubblin. Are you still in Virginia? Are you originally from Virginia? Are you still in Virginia?
Speaker 2:So I was born in Colorado man, but raised in Virginia, right right in the capital city, portsmouth. So yeah, it's still in Portsmouth. People don't believe me when I say I still live in Portsmouth. Like, I still live in Portsmouth, man, I know how to duck and dive and shoot back when you got to. I have a vision.
Speaker 2:Without being too deep, my whole thing was man. I got two kids man, one that I love and one that I'm getting used to. And with my kids, I always had a vision of I'm not gonna have to be a father from afar. So people have always been like yo, you need to move to DC, you need to move to New York, you need to move to LA, and I'm like but where they gonna be at? You know what I'm saying. So my first priority has always been to them. So I never left and I've got a vision. If I can make it from here, that's where it's gonna be, and I feel like I can. And I've been blessed to be in a lot of opportunities. But I've lost a lot of opportunities just because I haven't lived in like a LA or New York, but I feel like they'll come back to me.
Speaker 1:They definitely will, man. So you started off at the college. How has the comedy scene been for you as you was going up and getting further along into the game? Because, like I said, you're rated funny in my opinion. You know what I mean. I appreciate it, man.
Speaker 2:Comedy is. I've always excelled Comedy is. It's a weird business. Comedy is one of the only businesses you can get fired after being good. Being good can really hurt you in comedy Because you got a lot of insecure headliners and I'm talking about, like guys that don't want an A list.
Speaker 2:So you got a lot of guys on the A list who are really, really insecure and don't want to work with anybody who they think is gonna be a threat to what they got going on. They might steal some shine from them on the show. So being mediocre gets you a lot of work in comedy. Like if you just good enough to not bomb, like everybody, man, come on, man, open it and do all this stuff. But man, if you good, good people like hey, man, you all right, you'll never hear from them again. So that has been one of the things that's been difficult. There's not a lot of collaboration.
Speaker 2:Also, the game has just changed. It used to be you had to hit, you had to go through the open mic circuit. Then you had to start hosting, start featuring and building your business building your business up, building your setup, building your material up. Now it's about if I can get a hot viral video. I'm in, like, if you get a hot viral video man, that 30-second video people will book you in a heartbeat. I watched Ha Ha Davis and Ha Ha Davis was like he didn't understand it. He had to learn the game.
Speaker 2:Ha Ha Davis was viral, funny on social media. One of his first shows was the April Fool's show at Madison Square Garden. He comes out to Madison Square Garden doing that show and he realizes oh no, man, this is different. I got a really new comedy Like uh-oh, I ain't got no jokes, I ain't got no material. So he had to go back and get material. So that's one of the things that has changed in the game. But I've done well, man, I've been able to go. Man I think me and my daughter were counting the other day, man, like 29, 30 out of 50 states to do comedy in Both coasts. I've done a lot of things that I've dreamed of been on TV, national televised and even on social media stuff with Kev on stage. It's a sitcom done Roland Martin multiple times. So it's, I mean, it's been a whirlwind. I'm writing for people that I never thought I would be writing for in a million years. So it's a good time, man.
Speaker 1:Yeah yeah, bro, so blessing, it's a blessing, like I say it like this it's only a few comedians that I really look up to and I know you're not originally from here but from somebody from Virginia that's doing what you're doing.
Speaker 2:Salute, man, I appreciate it and no, I counted, I mean man like it was three years in Colorado. So you know, virginia is really still home, man. I went to elementary school, middle school and high school in Virginia. So Virginia is home and there's nothing but greatness here. You know what I'm saying. Virginia is home me and made me who I am. There's so much greatness here, but I want to be one of the greats from Virginia that still is Virginia to the core and everybody knows that's a Virginia guy. You know what I'm saying so many times because Virginia hasn't been put on the map.
Speaker 2:People look at a lot of our Virginia icons and think they're from somewhere else. People look at Pharrell and be like, oh, he got to be from New York. They look at Missy and they be like she got to be from Atlanta or LA. But he's like, nah, he stayed from right. And DL Huggley was born in Portsmouth and he only stayed for like a day, but he was born here. They made that stop. Portsmouth, general, that's where he was born. Wanda Sykes is Portsmouth. You know what I'm saying. We've got people who are Portsmouth, and I ain't just talking about our athletes. It's crazy, but Virginia has got so much. When they say it's something in the water. It's true. It's just we got to make it stick to where people recognize Virginia.
Speaker 2:I'm working on it and I ain't talking about DC. So all you DMV people, it's not what I'm talking about. It's about real Virginia.
Speaker 1:Real Virginia. Yeah, I agree I think Virginia has a lot of talent up and coming and established talent. Just got to have some work with each other a little bit.
Speaker 2:We got to start collaborating and we got to realize, man, one of the things I love about LA when I go to LA, right, one of the things I love about LA you can put people in a room. If there's a writer, an actor and a photographer or videographer in a room, the writer that act in a videographer can see each other. They be like yo look, I write, yo, I act, I record, yo, let's put something together on film and there ain't no question of who's going to get the credit for, who's going to get the money for, who's going to be the big name nothing, it's like all three of us work, let's work, let's put it together, it's together, and then they go about their business. They've learned how to collaborate. That's one of the things we haven't learned how to do. We haven't learned how to be like let's collaborate.
Speaker 2:I look at Kevin Hart and the plastic cup boys. Right, all of the plastic cup boys are talented in their own right. Nain Spank, all of them are talented in their own right. But they realize that if we work with Kev, if we come underneath Kev, he's taking us to places we not be able to take ourselves. So let's collaborate, let's make Kev shows great. Let's write for Kev, let's make his stuff pop and he takes us with him and all of us are getting to a bigger place. That's the kind of collaboration I'm talking about in Virginia. Like I want Kev to realize we can all get together and do skits, put together skits that are quality skits. We can get together or write a quality movie. All of us work together, rather than everybody trying to trying to for Nago. They all weigh in, only worry about them. Man, if we all come together and collaborate, it'll work. If we look at and I know I'm going long- on your podcast.
Speaker 2:But if you look at even comedy, go back and look at Eddie Murphy's Raw. Eddie Murphy's Raw is produced by Keenan Iver Wayans, Keenan. At that time Keenan was still doing his stand up and Eddie was doing a stand up. But Keenan is like yo, let me get in, help my brother get the way he got to get. It's going to come back for me. Kim is in the front. You see, Kim, if you actually watch the, if you ever watch Eddie Murphy's Raw, Kim is one of the people like I'm here to see Eddie Murphy, Like that's Kim, that's Kim Wayans, the sister. She's getting FaceTime in there. So now she's getting credits. Everybody is working together and that's what made them great Prior to seeing Murphy as such a such competition that he didn't help him prior would give Murphy wisdom.
Speaker 2:He's sitting and talking to him. He talked about it. You know what I'm saying. Eddie Murphy talked about it. So now we got cats that if I'm on, I don't want to let you get on. Or I ain't talking to Jerome Like I ain't going to give him no tidbits, I ain't going to tell him how to do it. That's the wrong way. I should be willing to be like your Jerome got a podcast. Absolutely, get on his podcast. Let's push it. You know what I'm saying and I don't care, I got my own podcast.
Speaker 2:I don't care if your podcast goes great. That's what's meant for you. That's how it should go.
Speaker 1:I think everybody wants to be a big fish in a small pond.
Speaker 2:And they end up drowning each other man. It's even enough suffocating, you do. Let me be a small fish in the ocean with room to grow. You know what I'm saying. We all in this ecosystem, we all go get together. Now there's going to be some whales out there, man, and you know what, and I'm probably end up dating all of them. But that's not the point. Some guys go date a Barracuda. Some of us are going to end up with a great white. It's going to happen. Give me the beluga. Give me the beluga?
Speaker 1:I don't know, I just want the fan and dory kind of chick. Did you forget everything? I'm sorry, I forgot about it.
Speaker 2:Probably the best kind, though, man. I used to want to date Fantasia before she could read. I'd be like, man, I'll be out all week. And she'd be like where was you at? I'd be like I left you a note, but that ain't got nothing to do with it. That is, you can read I don't want her and like the next man can have her.
Speaker 1:The next man can have her. Yeah, yeah, I don't know, it's a lot of I don't know. I do my own thing, man, I'm silent and I travel and do my thing. And, like I said, you were like one of the inspirations because, like my friend, when we went to see you on at Ali Sadid, we saw you on Ali.
Speaker 2:Sadid. We all went to go see Ali and I just happened to be there.
Speaker 1:That's what happened, but go ahead. She was like I never heard of Cletus. I said you never heard of Cletus. My homeboy AJ told me about you. I looked you up all over the pandemic, the lockdown. I said let me tell you something. He's from VA. He said I never heard him. I said I think he was just one of those guys that does his shit perform and just bow out.
Speaker 2:That's exactly what he probably do I'm horrible at promoting myself.
Speaker 2:Man, that's what, and I know my fault. So I got to get a team of people that are doing it. Man, like the humility is a hard thing for me, like I stay humble, I go do my show. Like you don't ever see me, and I see cats. They try to put out yo, I'm the best in VA. Like I'm the best in the city. Come holler at me Like you can't, can't, nobody do what I do and I sit back and I watch and a lot of stuff that they say, that they trying to do like I did it, like I've been there, like nobody from Portugal had done chocolate Sundays before me.
Speaker 2:Like nobody I've done chocolate Sundays. I've been to LA, done chocolate Sundays, got my time, got my stand ovation. Like I've done all of that. So now when you say, when people say that they gone, I'm the first one, you're not you just the first one to go and brag and boast about it. But I've been known at LA, I've been all over the country. You know what I'm saying. So that's, that's on me, though A lot of people got that Dion Sanders attitude Like they gone, get out there. Hey, everybody, look at me, but are you winning? Though that was my fault Dion's winning in his heart.
Speaker 1:I'm about to say. You know, he just lost for a straight little tough.
Speaker 2:It's four and six. It's crazy out there.
Speaker 1:But it's more games. It go buffs If Dion, if you listen to it coach, send us all the money you want.
Speaker 2:Dion must be the money. Turning me on must be the money. Yeah, yeah, we remember that. You can't let that down, but we remember it.
Speaker 1:Actually, you know what I was listening to that at work today. I have no reason, rhyme or reason to even lie to you. So what's worse?
Speaker 2:What's worse, dion Sanders with must be the money, or Eddie Murphy with party all the time, party all the time.
Speaker 1:As you like. Party all the time. My girl likes to party all the time If you want it.
Speaker 2:I don't know what Eddie was on. I don't know where Eddie was on, but I hope he never gets on it again.
Speaker 1:If you want to see something that's bad, look up the song he did with Michael Jackson. What's up with it?
Speaker 2:I saw that that whole singing career. Now by far I think the most talented individual probably walking on this earth right now is Jamie Foxx.
Speaker 1:Thanks.
Speaker 2:This is like. Jamie Foxx is one of the few people that can find himself top five in multiple categories. If you want to go be like, if you want to be like voice, if you want to be like music, you can easily put Jamie top five. Because he sings, he plays, writes, you can easily put Jamie top five. Music comedy you can easily put Jamie in his stand up top five. When you start something out like a part of his career that a lot of people look over is, jamie does impressions. So if you want to be like impressions, you can put Jamie up there. Then the acting you can put Jamie up there. You play pickle ball, which is probably right now my favorite sport. You can't miss what Jamie is doing. Jamie would have that massive Eddie though he shouldn't have sung, but when you got enough money and you got people around you, that's just going to be like yes, that's how you end up with that album.
Speaker 1:You did reggae for a couple of years too.
Speaker 2:I'm like Eddie, you killing them dog. You sound just like you from the island One, two, three Eddie. No, you should have somebody should be friend enough with Eddie. They've been like no because no, no, edward, edward. That's what they should have brought out, edward.
Speaker 1:Murphy no, he did, he did reggae. You know how you go on Instagram. Sometimes, man, they got like some of those four page and I had didn't. I know he did a song, michael Jackson to today and I did not know he did reggae until like a couple of years ago and I looked it up and, eddie, I love you, I think you the goat, you sign field my top two, but Edward.
Speaker 2:Reagan Murphy, stop it. Hell middle name is Reagan.
Speaker 1:I had one.
Speaker 2:Reagan Murphy, I was like stop it.
Speaker 1:Shit, but his genius is in impact. Well, hey, they're going like an Eddie ramp, like yesterday. I was watching as bad with him. And on wisdom and move from when he was a boxing, like 2002 or whatever.
Speaker 2:Great. He's got a movie, mr Church. Mr Church Like it. I'm in. Mr Church like yo, who, like his acting, is top notch. Just don't sing. Edward Jimmy got so listen that role and dream girls was made for him. An album. No, let Jennifer Hudson sing an album. Let Beyonce. You were not here for that. That's not why you were here, edward. Edward Reagan Murphy, stop it. Don't sing no more. He can date all the singers he want, whether he was married to a spice girl. He dated Johnny Gill, but just don't sing anymore. My bad, I said to think I don't know if he was dating Johnny Gill. John was just living in the pool house.
Speaker 1:Yeah, johnny, johnny Gill's ex -wife, right, johnny Gill's ex-wife. Uh shit, how? Just a pivot. Now you see a lot of people doing comedy. You see everybody, everybody doing comedy. They going from transition from skits to stand up, stand up skits and even music to stand up. How do you have there ever been like a mommy, like man this guy should just stop outside of Edward Reagan Murphy doing music. Has there ever been anybody like you know it might not pivot for him a little bit. He might want to focus on something else, or do you know it? Just keep going.
Speaker 2:Don't quite. I see it all the time. So here's the thing about comedy. First of all, comedy is subjective. So just because I don't think it's funny doesn't mean that there isn't a group of people out there. You just got to find a group of people that thinks whatever you do is funny. I'm I'm a comedy purist. Like I studied comedy, so I know the difference between stand up comedy, physical comedy, storytelling, slapstick, all of those different things. Like I'm, I'm into the rules of three, I know what callbacks are. Like I can physically tell people what the formulation of a joke is, but I can't tell you how to be funny, right, I think that one of the problems that we have now is that there's two different levels of comedy and people aren't differentiating between the two.
Speaker 2:There never used to be the the the advent of social media. Social media, I say, is always a double-edged sword. The good thing about social media is it gives everybody a voice. The bad thing about social media is that it gives everybody a voice, right, it's a whole lot of people you shouldn't be hearing from. So now, because of social media, there weren't ever really amateur comedians when we were growing up, right or in back in the day there was comp.
Speaker 2:You, if you got into comedy, you got into comedy because that's what you were trying to do. Now you got people who just dipple and dabble. They do it just to get some views. We just try to be silly on on film so that I can get views. The more views I get, the social media pay me a check, like. So now you see a lot of people doing stuff that it really wasn't before, and that's in all of the different lanes and genres of comedy.
Speaker 2:So, like when people are doing parodies. I ain't mad about people doing parodies, I just want you to be good at it. And if you're going to do any of those things to me, go be a professional about it. Get into it, because I take the craft seriously, but a lot of people don't. They just out there, they be like yo dawg. I can make some money real quick. Let me throw something, anything on film and I'm there. Let me just get on stage. Let me go to a comedy class real quick.
Speaker 2:Oh, like, cats graduate. And you know I don't want to disparage you, this is your story. But cats will go to a comedy class and then go to a comedy school. They'll graduate on Tuesday, wednesday night, they done started a room at El Taco Loco and I'm like, dawg, you not ready for that yet? Like you haven't paid any dues, you haven't learned the game, you ain't even got you no material yet. It's not time for you to be at El Taco Loco. And then El Taco Loco is not even a venue that's ready for comedy. Like we disrespecting the game by just throwing it up in the lobby of McDonald's, like that's not what we need to do.
Speaker 2:So what I see in the 757 that hurts me is I'll see 25 people try to do a room per week and everybody's got the same seven comedians. Now you're all doing these shows the same seven comedians. You're all getting in is either getting free or it's $5. And then when you try to put on a show and you be like, hey, I got $25 tickets, and you be like why won't nobody pay for my $25 ticket? Because I saw you every day this week at El Taco Loco for free or for free beers.
Speaker 2:Listen, if we get together right, we can create a comedy scene. We get together, we say, look, we only gonna have one mic, there's only gonna be one open mic and it's gonna be in a nice place. We're gonna get everybody to go there. And guess what? You can't get on that mic every week. If you're gonna come to that mic, you're gonna do it, you're gonna do well with it, you're gonna work, but you ain't coming back for like three weeks. Now we're gonna rotate in five or six people. That way we don't have people doing comedy marathons where the open mic is 74 people getting three minutes apiece. What? Who wants to sit through that? I Love comedy and I'm not sitting through that.
Speaker 2:Now, if we cut it down to ten people Getting ten minutes apiece and they can actually get in there. Now you got comics coming in actually being able to work on material. Because I got ten minutes, I can work. I can learn the whole game. I could look how to come in with an open, I can learn how to close, I can learn how to do Crowdwork, because I've actually got time. Three minutes I get to work on a joke, maybe two, depending on what type of style you have. Hey, cut it down, let everybody come in. It's.
Speaker 2:But that takes people thinking outside of the box and thinking about me, me, me. I want a room at El Taco loco. Calm down, let's make the whole comedy scene better, then we'll be better and we become one of those cities like DC, new York, where people come and they know oh, it's good comedy here, it's great comedians here, and when we actually train our comedians and get them worked up, we can send them anywhere and everybody knows oh no, if it's a comic coming from the 75, he gonna be, he gonna be fire, because people talk like I go other places, I'll go to other cities and they'll be like yo, please, yo, we had these go. I will never forget a comedian, hamburger Hamburger came here. He did a show.
Speaker 2:After the show, hamburger calls me and he's mad at me. I was like yo, I wasn't on the show. He's like yo, why are you not training these young cats up? He said man, I was on the show with these cats and I can't take none of these cast in New York. I can't take none of these cats nowhere. They not ready. He said it's up to you as a old head to get them together. And I'm like dog, they don't listen to me. I was like these guys already know, they know everything, they. They took a comedy course or they saw a video and now they got a room at El Taco loco Don't. It was 15 people at the last show. You can't tell them nothing, cuz it's crazy.
Speaker 1:It really is me. I just my fault.
Speaker 2:I was just me letting it out. Man, you allow me to it is get it off my chest, my apple bosom.
Speaker 1:I kind of I've been, I've been doing it for years and I had two years in the lockdown, so I've seen it and I've seen people go in, I've seen people flame out and I'm like you know it's perks to have in the room and then it's downsides to having a perks is you get to perform, downside is you don't get to perform. So like an opportunity comes up on a day that you have that room, you gotta find somebody to host. Can't find nobody to host, do you get you to miss that on a golden opportunity to actually go towards another Market, like a whole demographic, like I'm not known? So I'll take a chance on any room. Friday I did this past Friday's sulfur arts and it had an open mic Tomorrow. Or imputed podcast come out.
Speaker 1:Wednesday I have one of Amber music hall. Thursday I got an audition with AGT frat. Day I'm back in an open mic again. Saturday I'm at an open mic. Sunday I'm at an open mic. But I never wanted my own room because I feel like that kind of slows my progression, because I can't focus on my jokes. I gotta do hosting all the time. I gotta do. I mean I may get some improv in there, but it's this you burn, you burn out your medium.
Speaker 2:I gotta promo. You do all that stuff and so, for me, don't. So let me say this I don't want to discourage you in any way, like, if you're doing these mics, I'm. I think what you're doing is not the. So you got people who are just stage hungry, right, they just want to get on to a microphone. There's a difference between doing it with a plan, like you thought this thing through you doing this because I need to work on my Material. I need to get better. I'm doing this audition. I'm working this material. I'm getting here. I'm getting here and I'm building up my name. I'm okay with that. I'm okay with you.
Speaker 2:Having that kind of philosophy like this is part of my work. This is part of my training. I'm talking about the people who be like dog. I've trained all I need to train I. I. Right now I'm top five in the game as I've been doing this for 36 minutes. Give me El Taco loco. Like no whoo dog, like Calm down. There's still so much for you to learn, so much. You're gonna experience like I.
Speaker 2:I knew what I was gonna do. I even I've even had a strategy, like the first time I did a show in Philly. Like I don't even think I charged a dude to bring me to Philly, like he was like yo, I want you to come do this show in Philly. I probably was like yo, give me two cheese steaks, I'm there. But there was a purpose in it, because I knew that when I went to go do this show in Philly I Knew once I'm seen, I'm in now you know what I'm saying. So the same guy called me later. He was like yo, I want you to do this show. And I was like yo, this is what the price is now. He's all. Man, I was first one to bring you to Philly, true, but I was banking on me To, I was banging on me. I just needed to be introduced to Philly. You know what I'm saying. So I need to do that. Have strategies, have goals. Sit there and look, see where you want to be and what you want to do.
Speaker 2:This cast is doing comedy right now. You go back and ask them Well, what do you want to do in comedy? Where do you want to be? What do you want to do? What are your goals? And I I mean, yeah, never, never, knew there was gonna be a question like that. The August should be. What are your goals? If it's a financial goal, if it's a placement goal, if it's just accomplishment goal, achievement goal, you should have some goal that you work on, even in your comedy. If you want to just be like man, I want to be able to say that I got an hour of material. That's a goal. You know what I'm saying. If you're like man, I got five minutes. Right now I just want to get to 15 solid. That's a goal. That's when I know that you're progressing and you're really trying to do this thing. Man, you should have goals. My bad if I'm.
Speaker 1:I don't got to be a guy preachy man, I'm my bad, you okay, you okay Because my thing is, when I start hitting all the mics is the reasons? Because I either got something big coming up or I got a show coming up and that's why I hit up all the mics I can. My goal in comedy is just to be great. I want. I have done 30 minutes. I have done this. Do I feel like I'm the best in the 757? Hell, no, because I don't want to limit myself. Like it coming up four years I got a OG by a couple of people in the game Joe Willis Linell, harris, ron Dea Wood. A couple of people was OG in the hell out of me. I'm like the hell.
Speaker 1:No, I'm great, I'm doing it, I'm doing it too much. And no, four years in the lockdown, a lot more in that lockdown, and the writing change. But, like I've seen, I think once I had a buddy when I was first coming up together. He was getting t-shirts made, he was getting merchandise made up. I'm like, bro, this is my first year, this is our first year. And then you got t-shirts made up.
Speaker 1:He's hitting up the local TV station to try and get a showcase on the local TV station and I'm looking at him like man, I don't think this shit, I don't think this is going to go the way that you wanted to go, because we, like, we went to comedy school and we only knew about one mic, one mic at a time and that was Khazi's. And I was like bro, like nah, and I was like we can't keep performing the same material. We started, I started going out and I got humbled a couple of times. I had some bad mikes, but I've been on the street now. I've been on a good year and a half going on to your street or just straight, no bombing and focusing, because I got the same. I got the study and, like you were saying earlier, observational comedy, surreal comedy, political comedy, sad, tired comedy, so many different variations, crowd work. I think TK Kirkland is the king of crowd work, in my opinion.
Speaker 2:Man your boy is working on now, and just because Matt Reif is killing it now, they just they different levels. Though the way that TK does crowd work is, you know it'll get you killed. Matt Reif will, do you know, go viral. Tk is just the ultimate disrespect. I mean, I love it though, but then you know, but like people forget TK Kirkland is like 89 years old. Like people don't know that about him. Like he stay in great shape. You know he talk sharp, yeah so, but TK is dope.
Speaker 1:TK is dope, matt is dope. Matt has.
Speaker 2:And so and people think his rise is a mediocre, but he been at this and he was like 15, 16 years old. Matt Reif has been working and he just finally got his break. And so that's the thing, man, like I think people just got to be you got to keep pushing, you got to keep doing what you got to. You know you doing. I love to see the driving and determination in people, man, I want to see them to keep going and you know, keeping the first thing. The first thing, man, is being funny, getting good material and being silent in yourself.
Speaker 2:I had somebody, man, they they hated me from the moment they met me, like because they very first show they came and they had all kinds of merch made. They like I'm doing my first show, I was like doll. You got to worry about being funny first. People ain't going to want to buy your merch if you're not funny. Like, that's got to be your first goal. Now you have all the t-shirts, cups, hats, baby rattles, all you want, man, and if you ain't funny, if you ain't going to buy it like your, your first thing is let me get my material down, let me learn how to be funny first, and then you can start worrying about getting merch and stuff. Man, like some of the best, don't have no merch. I lean on. Sell no merch. I was worried about being funny.
Speaker 1:You dropped a lot of jewels on this interview and, like I said, I appreciate it, man, because I ain't gonna lie, I was like man, I don't think he going to show up to the interview.
Speaker 2:Oh no, man, If I say so I'm, I'm about one of the things you'll. You'll find out about me, man, the more that you around me, the more that you talk to me. I'm a big relationship person, man. I put relationship usually over finance and all that kind of stuff. So I really believe that the energy that you put out to people is the energy that you get back. So I try to make sure that I'm good to people.
Speaker 2:If somebody reaches out and say, can you come? I'm, I'm a. If I say yeah, I'm a, be there, you know what I'm saying. Now, if I say, let me, let me think about it, it's a good chance, I'm not going to come, um, or or I'll try. If I hit you with an, I'll try. That's going to be rough, but man, you, you stayed on it. He was like you like yo. I was like well, what you talking about? What day? You like yo, I'm talking about Tuesday 830. What up? I was like, oh, oh, he real. Then, Okay, all right, yeah, I'm in then. So, yeah, man, I appreciate you reaching out, man, yeah man.
Speaker 1:Yeah, man, I had to come correct. I had to come correct.
Speaker 2:So yeah, and I appreciated it.
Speaker 1:I appreciate you, brother. Um, I was like I got a show on the 25th, on black Friday.
Speaker 2:If you want to pull up, man, you got black Friday, then I'm right, then right after you, man. So I got black Friday, I got to 26, that um funny bone at funny bone.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the 26 man. Hit me up, man, I let you. I let you get a guest spot, man, get you. I ain't that type of dude that's going to lie to you man. So you hit me up, man, I'll be like man. You can get a three to five, I'll put your own sight unseen, man. So yeah, that's a, if you're available, that's the Sunday after man.
Speaker 2:So, um, my man, anthony Oaks, out of DC, is hosting a comedian stiletto out of Maryland. It's going to come in feature. Then I'm a dude, then I'm a headline, I'm a dual hours. It's a one night only. So it's going to be fun, man, cause I'm. It's going to be a little bit different, but it's going to be fun. Like I'm not a good time I'm. I'm working up, I'm going to do a special, I'm shooting a special April six and next year. So we're trying to trying to work some of the not not the material for the special, but some of what's going on for the speck. You just got to kind of be there, man. So everybody that's listening, man, you know, not only do I want you to support this man, but you come out supporting me, man, on the 26th at Sunday, and if y'all support him, man, he'll be out there too with the funny bone. Give him a getting the good spot, yeah.
Speaker 1:Man appreciate that, brother Absolutely. Man make sure y'all follow this man, cleetus Cassie, it's Cleetus, it's Cleetus comedy.
Speaker 2:Cleetus comedy on everything. Man At Cleetus comedy on Twitter Facebook. It's Brandon's Twitter Facebook Instagram. Christian Mingo, all of them, man. You can find me right there, man, Yup.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, man Make sure y'all follow me comedian Rome on all social media platforms.
Speaker 2:Rome wasn't built in the day.
Speaker 1:Hell nah, Hell nah the hell.
Speaker 2:Hell nah.
Speaker 1:You follow me, I follow back. That's my thing, cause I got to show it a little bit. I'm going to go ahead and sign on off. Yeah, all right, oh.