Defeating the Devil w/ Wayne Brady

- Oh, you can. (funky music) - What's up everybody? Welcome back to the Dope's Usual podcast. My name is Thomas Dope's Yola, whatever you wanna call me, it's my co-host, Marty O'Neill. - What's up guys? - Guys, we have a very special guest today. Randomly bring this person up all the time. - It's Nick Cutter. - Not the whole show. - They're the whole show randomly. Guys, actor, singer, comedian, performer, please give a warm welcome to Wayne Brady. - What's up y'all? - Never thought I'd say that. - That's crazy that you bring my name up. We, I love this song. - It's like Beetlejuice, you say, - Oh yeah. - All the time, I show up. - The only show he ever watched as a kid with his family was whose lines anyway. I watched it every episode of my grandma. And then we all got a little older and went, "Oh, I love Steve Chappelle too." And then went, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." - We go watch, let's make a deal. It's just you've been here the whole time, man. - A fixture. - You've been here, they've never left, and it's great. I love it. - When I went on your Wikipedia today, the credit started at 1990. And then every year, till present day, they don't stop. - Well, I've been an actor since, I mean, I started when I graduated high school. No, I started at the end of high school in '89. So I mean, even before TV, when people knew my name, by the time that I did whose line in '98 or '99, I'd already been working since I was 16. So that was my 10 year overnight success. - Oh, that was the 10th. - Yeah, I started acting I was 16. I got whose line when I was 26. - Oh, okay, yeah, that's a long time, man. Well, people don't see the effort before. Like you said, the overnight success. I was a kid, that's the first time I ever heard of you. - Yeah, of course you carry show like crazy. And I'm like, "You have a TV show?" And then Ryan Stiles was so goofy and funny. I just watched it as much as I could have watched it. So to see that and know that it's been 10 years, what did you do before, anything notable? - I did a lot of sitcom stuff, but like guest spots stuff, and I was always touring during theater, and really, I was prepping myself to do whose line, I didn't know it. I was with a group, we started in Orlando, Florida, a group called SAC Theater, so shout out to any of those guys. And the theater is still there to this day, but then seven of us left, we moved to LA, and I guess I came out here in '95, and we started a group called The House Full of Honkeys. And we just wanted to come up with, what was the dumbest name that? - Was everybody white? - That bit, yeah. But that wasn't even the reason why we just thought that the word "honkey" was just so dumb. And then I was like, oh yeah, but you all are all, okay, great. So we just came up with that name, and we started playing out. So we would work at the old Acme Comedy Theater-- - Theater of group. - Yeah, yes, an improv and sketch group. We came out to be our very own version of "Second City" or "Kids in the Hall," and that was always the group's mission. My mission was to be an actor on a TV show, like I had a trajectory in my head, because up until that point, you have to remember, unless you were part of "Second City," you weren't, no one on TV was being paid to do improvisation, or at least on American TV. That was not a goal. So you could do sketch, or you could do sitcom. I thought, okay, we'll be together as a group, maybe we'll get some place, maybe we'll get our own sketch show. We actually had a deal, we became well known enough that we had a couple deals, and we shot a couple pilots. But I thought, for me, they can do this comedy thing, I'm not a comedian, I never set out to do that. My aim is to act, and you can act and still do comedy and be a comedic actor, but when I think comedian, I think someone who sits down and they write "Stand Up" and it's its own art. I never thought of improvisation as being its own science and being an improv comedian and being a sketch comedian. I was like an actor as an actor, and that's what I do. So, imagine my surprise, when for years, I'd been touring, like I said, in theater shows, I'd been doing guest spots on this old drama called, In The Heat of the Night, was my very first big guest starring thing on CBS, then I was just a recurring role on this drama on NBC called, "I'll Fly Away" that took place in the Civil Rights era. I did a couple sitcoms as a secondary character, but it was always about, I'm moving to LA, gonna get a role, I wanna be like the guys that I grew up idolizing, like Sammy Davis Jr., Sidney Poitier, I wanna be on screen, not comedy. But all of the stuff that I'd done, those gigs combined with working at Universal Studios as a theme park guy. - What'd you do? - I was Dracula and Wolfman in The Beatles' Rock 'n' Roll Show. I was a percussionist in this thing called the Boom Operators, that was like, "Stop." I was in the stunt show. I was a do-op singer. - I were performing. - Basically, I'm like, the lesson that I had drilled into my head when I was a kid when I first started was be the most valuable person in the room. That means use all of your skills. So, if sing, dance, act, create characters, write, improv, whatever you do, do that thing. So, if I couldn't get the job as an actor, then I was gonna sing. If I couldn't sing, I was gonna dance. If I couldn't dance, I'd write for somebody, I'd do those things. So, I didn't realize that all of that time, I mean, hell, in Vegas, I sang and cover bands at night, and I worked at the MGM Grand in The Theme Park when there was a theme park as a singer dancer. I worked for legends and concerts. I sang on cruise ships, all of those gigs, all those weird gigs, all these 50,000 gigs, that's the reason why I was able to do Who's Line. Because it made me have all these weird little niche talents that I could lump together. So, when the audition for Who's Line came and they're like, "Hey, can you think of such and such and do this thing?" I was like, "Oh, yeah." And I never thought of myself as being funny, but I knew that I could do those things. And it was an amazing comedy training round. Amazing, like I learned that was my comedy college. - Surprised to hear you didn't want to say that to be funny. It shocks, that blows my mind, actually. - No, because that's too limiting. Not for anybody else, 'cause if that's your goal-- - No, no, what you're doing, yeah, just-- - Because you're like people that-- - Funny. - Yeah, all these kinds of comedians. When I'm a kid, you know, everybody that's funny, like a guy must be a comedic actor. It must be it, but you're just doing theater, and okay, I didn't expect that. - Yeah, so comedy falls into-- Now, if you ask me, is that absolutely? I would definitely put myself down, and this just isn't me patting myself on the back. I mean, the track record shows. I'm one of the greatest improvisational comedic actors that has ever worked, that has been known for that act. Like, I absolutely know that because of my association with Who's Line, both the British and the US, and my shows, and everything that I've done, I've built that body of work to show I am the best at that thing. But, in my mind, I also think of myself as a well-rounded actor who I'm also known as as a very good Broadway star. I'm known as someone who can do-- So, when I say limiting, it's limiting for me, not necessarily for anybody else. If you look at somebody like Jamie Foxx, Jamie Foxx is one of our comedic stars. Like, Jamie Foxx is on our Mount Rushmore now, I think. But, Jamie Foxx has won an Oscar for his dramatic work. Then he turns around and he can do a comedy. Then he turns around and he can do a stand-up special. Then he releases Grammy-nominated records. Those are not wrong, huh? Those are the things that I do. I've got Grammy nominations. I do those things. So, when someone goes, "Oh, I just do that," I'm like, "Cool, that's good for you." But, that was never my plan, because then you're not the most valuable person in the room. You can be the most valuable person in the room that needs that thing, specifically. But, it's a good way to put it. Yeah, like, why not? And it doesn't have to be the entertainment business. Be the most valuable person in your cosmetic business or in your financial business. Be that what we preach. Yeah, we preach. If you've got a landscape business, be the best landscaper in your town, man. We actually did a whole TED Talk on the subject. Yeah, we had a creative muscle extending beyond a degree in all these different categories. Absolutely, because the creative muscle, I think creativity can fuel productivity. Because it's the person who thinks, man, I gotta show up and cut lawns today. That's a bullshit. I gotta go out and do that. Versus, I get to. I get to. Don't say, "I get to shit." And then, if you're gonna get up and cut those lawns, you've got Wayne's lawn business. I'm gonna make my lawn business, the dopest lawn business. How do I do that? If I need to show up at your house, and not only am I gonna cut your grass, but maybe I will create amazing topiaries, and I'll do all these things so you have no choice, but to come to me because I'm being creative. And I challenge people, even the job What you think is the most. mechanical or the job that you look down on, like someone goes, oh my God, I'd never be a janitor. I'd never do these things. I believe that if you're gonna do anything and I've done jobs outside of the entertainment business, if you approach it with a little bit of creativity, just look at it a different way. Even make a game out of it. When I worked at this place called Malibu Fun Track and Castle, when I was like 15, 16, it's a race car track with the video games and miniature golf places. No lie, I'd make cleaning up fun for for myself that I would try to do that scene that I don't now see that just shows how far I can go from breaking where Turbo has the boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. I would make up whole dances and do all this stuff to make the time go by and I did great work. I'm cleaning up and as I'm cleaning, I'm freestyling and listening to old school rap and making up my own verses and doing these things, I made the time go by and because I was able to do it in such a way, I did a great job. So I've just always tied that to what I do. - 'Cause I have extreme ADD and it won't stop. Do you feel like I can play a whole movie in my head while I'm cleaning that work and go, I just watched Forrest Cump, half of it right in my head. I feel like I can do anything-- - Absolutely. - I want to play a whole record go, number two. Oh, number two. All right, I keep going. Like I always work with McDonald's and I would just try to make every hammer the exact same, like, I'll just do the best job I can. - Yeah. - Now I'm the woman who didn't speak Spanish. I'm like, I can't talk to you guys. Damn. And I'll just keep full hand, man. - Find a way to make it, everything's fine. If you try. - Find a way to, and even if it isn't fun, find a way to make it creatively bearable that there's gotta be a way. And I love how you said that you just focus on making the best best burger. I would do the same thing, like when I had to, I might also made all the burgers and fries and hot dogs for the place. So I'd make a game out of when I would rip open the bag of fries and put it in. I'd put a timer in my head like I was a spy. That's, and that if I didn't move out of the way fast enough, then the acid would burn me or I'd get shot. You shot or something. - I love that you think like this. - Yeah. It's like open the door like there's a murderer. Open the door. - Yeah like the best way, the best way to do it. And, and I don't know about you, but I was also raised as an only child. So I learned to entertain myself. - Yep, might as well have been. What's this? It was a jerk. So yeah, I was by myself all the time. My mom used to do drugs and I was a kid. And like the cable guy watched this. So I just watched everything. So I'm like a cinephile to the max. So I was a kid I just watched everything and learned like lessons from movies. - I love that. - Yeah, like all the lessons and movies like Henry Hill, this one. Karen almost died walking into that suit shop. Don't walk into the dress shop in Allie. We talk about this so much. You just learn stuff from different movies. Like I've seen that movie. I'm gonna get shot. Don't do it. Don't go. The ever-grub in the ghettos. I'm like, let's just stay home. I know this lesson. I've seen it. - I tell my daughter that sometimes and she asked, I was like, look sweetheart, I grew up in the hood. And I'm not saying that all hoods are bad, but because they're not, but sometimes things go down. And the lesson that I learned just like you, I'm gonna stay home. - Every time. - Every time, you know if I got that feeling? Hey man, you got to come out with this when. It's like at 12 and we's like, nah, it's okay. Maybe I'm missing a great time, but maybe I might get got. - 100%. - And I'd rather not get got. - A lot of parties, I didn't go to them. I'm like, oh, somebody got a shot. I know that guy. It sucks. - And it wasn't you. - It's not me. - Hey man. - Yeah, I like that you think that way. You should just try to speed how fast can I do this? I'm gonna mop this whole thing in less than three minutes. And just, you got to be there anyway. You know what I mean? - It's definitely the ADHD brain. It's definitely that brain that play in a movie, play in a song at the same time. Because if not, if you did not, oh my God. Like the way that time moves for me, and I'm sure for you now that I know that if, if I had to do a task and I did not look at that movie, or TV show, or listen to that audible book in my mind or think of that thing, I couldn't do it. Then you go into the other thing of that shock of it and never get done, 'cause you just go and just sit there for an hour. - Like a hole in the bag, like. - Yeah, just, uh, uh, I'm gonna lay down, dude. Can't think. - Yeah, the life face down. - Yeah, I'm tired now. Yeah, randomly. Tired as hell, and then I'm like, am I a lazy pastor for just being tired and then? Imagine setting your makeup, then forgetting it's even theirs. Meet new groupie setting mist from Mabelie, New York. Gel to mist technology locks in your look for up to 24 hours with flexible all-day comfy grip. No tightness, no stickiness, no residue. Just plump, dewy, hydrated skin. That still feels like your skin. Try new groupie setting mist from Mabelie, New York. - Maybe it's Mabelie. - No, all of your synapses just went flip flip. - Is that what's going on? - Yeah, that happens to me now. - It's a real condition that, you know, and if you're lucky enough to have insurance and you get the medicine, you really address it. And that's what I think is great about now is so many of the things that when I was a kid that I have to actually be thankful for because I think it also, the flip side of these things like ADHD, ADD, Asperger's, which is an Asperger's anymore, but like being on the spectrum, that they have downfalls, but they do come with these great little mental perks like focus and creativity and task management when you're able to get the correct medicine for it. So now I think about that little kid Wayne who needed to view life a certain way. That's the kid that grew up like a lot of us as entertainers and performers. We grew up looking at life a certain way. That's what's helped us be able to do movies, TV shows, records, podcasts, write books, make music. We've got all that shit in our head. - It's non-stop. We talked about this recently. I would like to turn it off though, sometimes. Like going to sleep, I'm playing four movies back to back in the scene, just keep flying and the song's going. Then I think about 19 things I didn't get done. And I'm, it's all five. Sleep is a problem. Sleep is definitely, that's why I've started my family. We all have these aura rings now. And so the aura ring tracks your metabolic rates, tracks your sleep, the tracks this whole thing. And we're all on a group and so we're all on the app and it links you together as a group. - That ring? - Yeah. So there's an app here. And it's me, my ex-wife and our daughter and my ex-wife's partner. So we're all on this thing. And so she calls me every morning. She's like, you slept like shit. - Oh, like that. - Because I know I did. It's not my fault. Well, have you been looking at your screen? I said, look, I'm trying not to. And then I go to, and then I put down the phone. It's a half hour in. And maybe I'm not looking at the screen in my hand. - But you're in your head. - I've got this whole thing. And then when I do go to sleep, the dreams I have are crazy. And sometimes it's good crazy because if you wake up and you can write it down, then that might lead to a really great sketch that I can write or something. And sometimes it just is horrible. I have some horrible ass dreams. - Me too, man. This is what you're saying is like, when I finally fall asleep, do you fall? Have dreams if you fall asleep in the car in one second? - Absolutely. - Me too. I'm already having a full gym. I was just like, a one minute. - Full? - It's a 45 minute dream. - Cinematic Recon. - I can remember everything about every dream. Who was there? I never see people go, I never met you. But I saw you one time and I don't know. Don't talk to me. That was a bad dream. I don't like you. - Yep. - I have this all the time. - All the time. - And in fact, just like this past week, been like, okay, I really need to sleep. That's why I got the ordering 'cause I wanted to track it. - I just got to watch and it's took it off today for the first time. - Yeah. - I have the tracker sleep. - Technology, man. I love technology. - I don't look at as much as I should, but I have it. I know it's there, you know? - Yeah, I have the reoccurring dreams. It's just, it's never stops. But I can remember everything, no matter what. Sometimes it's cool, but sometimes it's like, I don't want to remember that shit. - Have you had any ridiculous recurring dreams that have stayed with you now as an adult that you had as a kid? - I had one dream about, before I knew what war was. Now that I'm old, I was in World War II and I'm running through a D-Day, the trenches. And then I'm here all this crazy screen talk. Now I know it's German, and I'm with this little white kid and he's running with me. And we're in like a ditch for days. Something goes down and something goes up. And then the tank comes by, then we start, I'm starting to shake again every fucking time. - Oh, I get this little leg. - Which movie did you watch that gave you that? - None of them. Almost like four, maybe three years old. - Wow. - And then this guy's yelling at me. He's got a, I just told my mother, there's a knife on his, on his gun. - Bandit. - And he yells at me and then he shoots and then I wake up every time. But anyway, my wife's adopted grandpa, the one that raised her, it wasn't World War II. And he has dementia so bad. And then the last time I ever saw him, he was normal and he's like, you look just like, and he said the guy's name, he's like, we're in the war and D-Day, we're in the ditch for two days. And then he got me on a tank and then he blew up. And he's like, you look just like him. I always get this weird leg. I was shaking my chest when I talk about it. - That's crazy. - But it's like, that one I had like 50 times 'til I was about 23 and then my wife and it stopped. I don't know, this dream stuff, I feel like is a, she brought you peace. - This is just, it's weird. That's one of many. - But that, it's, man, that's, that's amazing. - There was always a water gun I had. I would shoot it and just nothing would work. It was a plastic gun when I was walking around as a kid. - In the dream, you had, see, - When I got older, I had a water gun. - Where I got it. - There's something about being powerless in that. - That's what it is. - Yeah, like some, because especially as a kid that we don't have, kids cannot control anything in their environment. They can't control the TV, they can't control the food they eat. They can't control the time to go to bed. The only thing they control is I can crap myself right now or I can become such a brat that you have to deal with. - Deal with me, yeah. - Yeah, that's crazy. - Yeah, but I've had like a lot of reoccurring dreams like that we talked about it often. Like, Grandma does too. She has a lot of dreams where she see a headstone with a name and then she'll be like, oh my God, they're gonna die. And the, always die. - Those are trauma dreams mixed with some witchcraft. I had to get some Mexican witchcraft stuff. I do believe it's in the bloodline or something. We've talked about it too many times. - Dark hurts, I'm like, well, I get this little flutter. Anyway, let's, that's, it's crazy. But yes, I have the weird dreams like you. - I'm trying to think, I still have two recurring dreams. One, I've had since I was a kid and it hasn't gone away and it only gets worse because I don't sleep. Because of that neighborhood I grew in, I was always worried about somebody breaking in. And out of all the house unblocked, everybody loved my grandma. She was the best. I was raised by my grandma, Val. Everybody loved her. The house to my left, the house to my right, the house cat accorded in front, the house and back. Everybody's houses were always broken into. But everybody was always, hey, Ms. Val, and they would basically just tell her, you know, we're not gonna mess with you. - We'll break into your neighborhood. - Yeah, sucks. - Better than us. - No, I kid it. - And, but as a kid, I remember my thought was always, I've got to make sure that I locked the front doors and we had these locks. And I need to make sure that nobody can get in these windows. And that has stuck with me. And it's changed slightly since I've grown, like when I say my whole life, there has not been a year as an adult all my life that I have not had that dream. And it doesn't stick, I board up doors, I do those things, I make sure that the dogs are brought in. It's been the same thing. And I realize that that's a piece of my childhood stuff where I just always want to make sure that I'm safe and my family's safe. So I've got to make sure, and it was a family that lived across the street from us. I'm not saying that they broke into anywhere, but they did their thing. And I was always worried about them. I was always worried about somebody from them coming and messing with me. So I had to make sure that the doors were locked. It's just crazy. So I still have that dream. - I have the same dream, my grandma's. But I'm boarding it up and there's an invasion, an alien invasion, since I was a kid. - See, this is why we are creative. - We have such weird stuff in our heads. How can you not put some of that on stage? - For sure. Oh, I did. The first time I was at the improv. I told that story. - The first time actually, yeah. - I have a panic where I'm like, I don't have enough boards. There's not enough boards. And I just can't get every window. That's like my, the biggest panic. And then the door's the last one. And then I see people coming and then I wake up every time. - Wow. - These dreams, man. - Same thing at my grandma's house. Same thing, I grew up there, but we're in the country. So I can see things from a mile away. So I'm like, oh my god, we have this much time. It's always a pain. I hate these dreams. Okay, never mind, let's God bless our grandmas. - Well, grandma's cool, man. It's all yesterday. - Okay. - I just had a thought. I have an eight year old daughter and she's getting into singing and dancing and things that you would consider like talent. But for her, it's all based, her metric of success is gonna be based around the algorithm, around views and comments and stuff. And it's really, it's left up, really, like she posts a video and her happiness about it is how many views it got. I mean, just like everybody. But for her versus when you're coming up and it's just pure raw talent, you're just fostering your original creativity, trying to get better at the thing and you don't need views and likes. The metric is, oh, I've been hired. - Exactly. - Or the audiences or being in front of a live audience. That's the, see, I'm not gonna be one of these guys that that shits on this generation because there are plenty of success stories now in the past six to 10 years using social media and how that can be. So bravo, if that's how you come up, that's how you come up. But I think you see the evidence, especially when the pandemic happened. A lot of people got very successful very fast because we were all shut in. We needed entertainment, especially comedy and music. These guys are great. They make the best sketches. Oh, it's so funny. Then you put them in front of a live audience for the first time. - It doesn't translate. - Boo. Or their self-confidence is in there. The heaven had time to learn to, if they're doing stand-up, they haven't had time to really research how to write a joke that they haven't worked out. They haven't gone to the room. They haven't slept in front of an audience to know, it's the only way you gotta be in there. And you do it. They've only written sketches that have performed online. They haven't done them live. So when I see singers and dancers, you know, like you're talking about your daughter, that the metric, I think that the healthiest thing for any performer, the thing that AI cannot take from us, is you've gotta learn to become a live performer. Even if you do your videos online and you monetize that, and that's great. At some point, you need to be in front of other people. You need to be able to have that feedback. You need to be able to have a room full of people go, a room full of strangers go, I love that. Or why did you just choose to do that with your life? You need that. That was the worst. Why did you choose to do this with your life? That's, I mean, because we all have, we've all gone. That's not fun. But the last time I went, I need this fuck you guys. I'll do better next time, yes. But sometimes bombing, like I've bombed the ones a long time ago that you bombed so hard that it goes all the way around to actually being fun again. So when you get over the thing, you're like, and then you can be honest with the audience. And that's when I learned to be honest with the audience. You're not going to, guys. It's like, you know what? That shit didn't work, or I had this joke written I was going to do. Nope. And then in the talking about the thing that you were going to do were bombing, that becomes funnier, becomes acknowledged in. And you're being real. People want a little bit of reality in whatever you're giving them in terms of your creativity. I agree. Big time. Everybody needs a bomb at least once. It sucks, but get through it, dude. It's like doing a cold plunge, but it'll be over. Just feel it. And then if you're doing it with friends, like the good thing about doing improv and sketches at some, sometimes if you bomb and something sucking, you've got somebody else on stage that the two of you are looking each other, and now you're like, oh, we're so bad right now. This is great. And you're laughing with each other. There's actually a real awesome feeling in that. It's like playing football, go, you're, that past suck, dude, do better next time. Like, I know that was fucking painful. Yeah, yeah. That's the only way that somebody's got your back. Just talking about attention spans. This art is so cool. Now, did you paint it? He painted it. I love all of the stuff that you've got pop culture-wise. You've got Homer Simpson. There's so much stuff in there. But how dare you have the bills from Schoolhouse Rock? Oh, you're talking about Schoolhouse Rock. I'm just a bill. Right. It's actually not. It's, uh, it's funny. You said that. Can you find something? It's called Homies for Life. It's a blunt and a lighter. I made it after Schoolhouse Rock. I'm just a bill. That's exact artwork. And let's go to the movies and snack bars. Yes. That's what I did it. That's my biggest selling share ever of the past ten years. There it is. There my rock. I'm just a blunt. Say I'm only a blunt. I wish I had an artist to do that. That's great. A couple hundred tattoos without a round of 100s. Yeah. People tattoo this sub-on. It's like the new best friends for life tattoo. That's great. Yeah. I like that you noticed it, though. Yeah, man. The art's awesome. Appreciate that. Thank you. That's like our staple pattern we've had since the start of the show. Yeah. What's up, guys? Want to say a super thank you to my bookie, The Sponsor of this episode. Football's back. It is here. And yes, the writers lost again. If you're familiar with my bookie, it's back. Lock of the season is here. 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Miss Black for president or Miss is Black for president, I should say. Miss Black for president. Miss Miss. Yeah. Miss. Alan Smith, and this is NYC, and it was October. - This is, we go into previews, October, it's 10th, I believe. If you're in New York and you wanna come, you have to fact check me, but I wanna say it's October 10th, and then we open up a few weeks later at the beginning of November, and then I think we're gonna close in December. But it's an amazing, well, first I'll back up and just say, it's one of the coolest things that I've gotten a chance to do. And I've gotten to do some really cool stuff. But to play somebody who's actually living, and also to play a really cool period in history, that here is the thing, you don't have to be black to appreciate black events or black history in-- - Imagine setting your makeup, then forgetting it's even there. Meet new grippy setting mist from Maybelline New York. Gel to mist technology locks in your look for up to 24 hours with flexible all day comfy grip. Just plump, dewy, hydrated skin that still feels like your skin. Try new grippy setting mist from Maybelline New York. - Maybe it's Maybelline. - America, I don't have to be Latin in order to appreciate Latin American history or Asian American history, or do you have to be straight to appreciate things that have happened in queer history and vice versa? 'Cause history's history, right? It all just happens and goes down. I felt, I feel, if we all knew or cared, a little bit more about where we all come from. Both, sometimes just as a person that if I get to know you and we become friends and I know you're upbringing and I know your things, that makes it easier for me to deal with you as a person 'cause I know, oh, it's false from there. That's why he's like that. Both good and bad, but it's a good picture. So even when you're dealing with a culture, instead of making ignorant snap judgments about cultures, that's where stereotypes come from. And trust me, stereotypes are real. That's why there's stereotypes. But when you judge a person based on a thing that you think is true, whether it's black, white, Asian, Latin, or queer versus straight, that's our problem. So I say all that to say this role in misblack for president, I didn't know this happened. There is a gentleman named Terence Allen Smith who in 1992, well, a couple years before that and then in '92 I believe, ran for governor of California and then tried to run against Clinton for president. Now, what makes this interesting is the reason it's called misblack for president, is Terence Allen Smith was an actor, singer, and advocate, but also he performed as a drag queen. But back in that day, the late '80s, and it wasn't like you can turn on a watch, RuPaul's Drag Race, now it's not about the glam and all that stuff. - It's before two on foot also, right? - It was about, yeah, it was more about a punk aesthetic. It was about, I'm dressing like this to piss you off. So I'm gonna wear this wig, it's not even, I'm gonna wear this wig and this leather and whatnot, because I know that you don't like it. So it was drag as performance art, which is not much different than the whole punk movement. So back in the day, punk and drag and rock and early hip hop, all those things in their nascent forms, like right at the very beginning, they were all about, let's turn over the norm because the norm sucks for us. - Until it became normal. And then now, people don't like the things that they used to celebrate as the rebellion. So he took on this persona of Joan Jett Black, 'cause Joan Jett, the singer? - Yeah, Joan Jett, so that's why he wore the leather and the wig and the whole thing. And then he got involved with this group called Act Up, and they came up with this plan. They just wanted to make noise, because this was during the beginning of the time when the AIDS epidemic happened. And I'm still so mad at myself for, and I consider myself a pretty well-read person. We all know about the AIDS epidemic, like it's very, it's so distant. It's almost like, oh yeah, remember when people were dying, we're dying like all the time. Oh yeah, but no, like I remember when I was a little kid and I was hearing about this. This was a true epidemic. It's one of the greatest killers of our country's time. And at that particular time when it started, it also caused people to treat people in the queer space. - Like lepers. - Like lepers, like if you touch somebody with HIV, you'll catch AIDS, nobody had the information, right? And a group like ActUp, they wanted to spread information to spread the truth, but they also wanted people to care. They wanted the American people to care. And part of, that's what this story is about. This guy, as a way to raise attention, said, well, they wanted him to run for office. First as the governor, they just wanted to make noise. It's like, look, if you get up there, there's six foot something, something black dude in a dress. If you get up there and you turn it on, you folks will look at you and he did. And then he noticed that was it by him being completely outlandish and the expectation of what people expected somebody who was gay and dressed in drag to be, he would take those expectations and then flip them and have all this knowledge and be able to school people on what was happening. And then the show itself leads up to when he and the group were trying to get him on the democratic national ballot. And it didn't happen, but he was there. He was at the conference and he was captured on film and folks knew and he made noise. And that's just what it was about. And it was during this period of history and then when the story was brought to me by the director and writer respectively, by Tina Landau and Terrell Alvin McRainey. When they brought it to me, I'd been fans of there. So if you're a Broadway fan, you'll know who they are. But Tina directed, and I forget if she wrote, but Tina directed the SpongeBob musical that was on Broadway and got turned into the movie. And she's a huge Broadway director and also for the theater company in Chicago called The Step in Wolf. And Terrell wrote the movie called Moonlight. Oh, yeah. One, One The Oscar. He's written a bunch of Broadway shows, off Broadway shows, a big TV show. So when they approached me to play this dude and they schooled me in the history, it goes back to that thing of like when I said that when I was starting out, I really just wanted to act and I wanted to do as much as I could. So it was one of the coolest things that to begin in the past, you know, 10 years now to really be respected for your chops as not just the comedian, but as an all-around actor. That's why I do roles like this. And I also feel it's my way of giving back. It's my way of trying to do something socially conscious. And I know there might be people watching that that may fall further on the right. But I don't know if a lot of your cats would fall on the right, but maybe because they did, I mean. Yeah, even if they did, did they still love you? Like a stopfire? And that's the important part. It's the message. It's the fact that I can be a voice to try to use whatever little celebrity or acknowledgements that I have to help folks that I want to be able to help the black community. I want to be able to help the queer community. I want to be able to help the artistic community. Because why are you giving any gifts that, yeah, you could just sit back and make a lot of money and do your thing, and that's cool. But why not help? Why not use whatever platform you have to do good? I agree. And then you're, you're starring, this is you, you're the main. Yeah, yeah, I'm starring it with five other brilliant Broadway actors. But yeah, so I am, I am Miss Black, A-A-K-A Terrence. Yeah, I just recently got it. Of course, we would school, we see a play. You have to be in a play, no matter what in their grade. I was a present and I hated it. It's just a box. But I just recently got into, like, actually going to plays. I think they're more entertaining than movies. It's shocking to see scene change. Like I went to a lot of Broadway in New York. Those black comes back and there's a new scene here. I was imagining it. It's a live movie scene. It's a live movie. I went and watched a book of Mormon a few times just because it's hilarious. The book of Mormon is so funny. For my money is the funniest, well-built, comedic musical ever. The jokes go. Our jokes, but the musical is a musical. It's great. It's like for real. The lead, even the short guy that, the little ugly guy I guess you call him. Everybody's just singing their ass off. He steals a show. Everybody's singing their ass off. And then when I went back, the guy that's in the closet hard, he's the lead now. When I went back, I'm like, oh, they're changing. He says you're doing this five times a week. It's so crazy to imagine that. - Talent imagine that. - Josh Gad, that started off as that. That was him. - He was amazing. I saw him in the original company. That's why I love Broadway and being on stage. Just to have to just be Broadway. Even doing theater locally here in Los Angeles or wherever. There's so much good theater just in the US period that you cannot beat seeing somebody on stage doing that magic, just crushing it. The scene changes, watching how they can make this vision come to life. I love that creativity. - It's so cool. I just discovered it recently. I wasn't watched. I was in London. I watched the Titanic. Have you heard that? - I just saw a Titanic. - It was funny, dude. It was really funny. I got to be honest. - It's so stupid. It's so goofy. - It's so goofy. - But it's done. - It's really, really well. She is amazing. I saw Frankie Grande in it who is, well, he's a Broadway star in his own right, but pop culture would know him as Ariana's brother. - Ariana, who? - Grande. - Oh, I'm so out of the loop. I know who she is. - Yes. - I just know who she is. - Yeah, like the From Wicked. - Yeah, I still haven't seen him. - You know what? It's okay. - It's long. - If you're gonna see it, no shade against the movie because the movie is great, but go see it live. - Yeah, I'd rather watch a live show. - Watching Wicked live? - Aladdin live? Aladdin live? - Come on, it'll change your life. - It was awesome, dude. Watching live shows is a whole different ballpark. You can't rewind it, pay attention. Like, it's, I love it. So there was another play you did. I'm gonna butcher the name. It's lost Kate. What was it called? - Oh, I just got finished doing Lakhaja phone. Lakhaja said it wrong immediately. - No, it's okay, but Billy Porter, right? - Yeah, myself and Billy Porter, but if you don't know what that is, just think of the Bird Cage. - Great movie. - Right, so Lakhaja phone, Bird Cage is the original French film, or is it the movie? It was a French film that was turned into a stage play, which was turned into another movie, a series of movies, then it was made into an American movie, then it was made into the stage play, then it was adapted to the Bird Cage, and then it came back to be this recent version of it, but the story's the same. These two, two, - Couple. - This married gay couple owns a club called Lakhaja-Fall, that it's a drag club. They have a son who is the son of the, of the straighter presenting guy that runs the club, the son meets a girl. He wants to marry her. That is the daughter of a politician, this far right wing guy who's like, "I'm shutting down all this drag bars. "I'm getting rid of the gays." And he comes home and he goes, "Dad, you've got to have dad away. "We can't have any of the gayer looking guy here. "We can't have any of this gayness. "I don't want the gay. "No gay, you can be straight, "but just do this for me for one dinner. "They're gonna come over for the weekend "and the comedy antics ensue." - It's ridiculous. - It's ridiculous, but there's also a really great social lesson. So I just got finished doing that. A couple months ago, it was amazing. I did it off Broadway at the city center. Before that, I did a Moulin Rouge, the musical, and then I did, yeah, so I've just been doing show after show, but a lot of the shows I've done in the past few, few years have definitely tried to have a message to them. - Yeah, no, I really like Billy Porter. I watched Pose. I watched that series. - Pose, man. - It was great. - Pose was so-- - Really good. - Yeah, it was really good. Sad, I didn't want him to go out, but I was like, "Oh, damn, that's gotta end, man." - That's how it's gotta end. And the good thing about watching shows like that, you know, we were talking earlier about, if you can't walk a mile in somebody's shoes, it's great when you can watch or listen or read a story about being in someone else's shoes. - I just think it's a, a lot of people make, like do dudes, guys, manly guys, make fun of it, or a guy's a dragon. A lot of drag shows, my mom, my sister's extra gay, and she loves drag shows, and she goes into drag wrestling. So she's all in drag wrestling, and they're men slamming each other, and it's the coolest thing ever. - Hooch-a-doors. - Hooch-a-doors. - Wow. - I'm gonna open up my own wrestling - You should definitely point that. - Hooch-a-doors. - Drag Hooch-a-doors. - I love that. I've been to a lot of shows, and I've been a lot of like, the drag brunch, and the hamburger marries, all that stuff. - Did you ever see the musical, "Kinky Boots?" That's a musical that stars a drag queen. I played that. In fact, Billy Porter originated the role on Broadway, and I took over the role from Billy, and I also did it out here at the Hollywood Bowl. It's another one of those shows that, yeah, it's about this guy who's his drag queen, but it's a drag queen that'll beat your ass, 'cause he was a former pro boxer. - All of that stuff still matters. - Yeah. - Bobby Blake makes that guy something like, that's a six-two man in heels, doing splits. You can't do that. That's why I always say like, you can't do half the stuff they do. And you wouldn't walk around in the dress 'cause you'd be embarrassed. These guys are owning it. That's why I always say, I see a drag queen that's six-sick, but good shit, man. Or I'll just won't say that, but like, yeah. - Imagine setting your makeup, then forgetting it's even theirs. Meet new grippy setting mist from Maybelline, New York. Gel to mist technology locks in your look for up to 24 hours, with flexible all-day comfy grip. Try new grippy setting mist from Maybelline, New York. - And nobody else is gonna do that. - Nobody's gonna do that. And if you think you think about it, look, most of us in our own way, I don't care if you look, let's say, who would you think? I don't care if your Tom Cruise, who ostensibly would think that, what would Tom Cruise ever have to complain about? Tom Cruise is the biggest movie star in the world. He can go to any corner of the world. Someone knows who Tom Cruise is. I guarantee you, Tom Cruise has some shit that he does not feel great about. - For sure. - That if we knew, and he walked down the street, and people say things about Tom Cruise all the time, he's like, oh yeah, Tom Cruise, he's short. He says that, you wanna say it to his face because he stands on top, he stands on top of his money. - Yeah. - People like to. - People like to say things, and we're all quick to rush to judge, and that's how when people who are homophobic or when they're racist, you don't understand how brave it is for a person to be authentic, for an interracial couple to hold hands and walk down the street. How brave it is for a lesbian couple or a gay couple or a trans couple to walk down the street knowing that somebody's gonna say something as they're just, but they're like, you know what, the bravest act that they can do, that we can do is exist. The bravest thing that you can do is just live, because somebody's gonna have something to say about it. You can't let what they have to say about it, stop your life. That's the thing, and it just doesn't have, it's just not with sexuality, it's also with race. It's with race, it's with your economic background, feeling less than because you only have two pairs of jeans because a kid and it's ripped and your mom's broken and we walk in and we don't have the food and you feel like shit and you're made to feel like this. Showing up, daily and being proud is super brave. That's why I love doing those stories, 'cause it took me forever to want to be as brave as some of the people that I know. - Can't wait to put it. - Yeah, man, you gotta be brave. - Yeah, I think, I mean, in America too, America's a little easier, but like being openly gay in Mexico, like you are the braveest guy in the world right now. It's bad out there, I know a lot of my family members are over there like, no, you can't walk around like that. Are you serious? 'Cause we take a foreign in America like, yeah, you can go to the store, you can go to Star Wars, you're gay, who cares? You might get beat up in certain places, you might get killed in certain places. - But it is worse in other countries, so. - We have a good here, man. We can do drag, brash, if you wanna go to drag once, you can do that. - Hamburger Mary's, but you can't do that in other places, so it is the bravest thing you've ever seen. It's kind of shocking actually, having the things that people gotta go through, but it is what it is, man. - Best thing I've learned just as an adult, and in life, and doing this crazy job that we do and show business is, A, I just wanna have fun. I wanna make myself laugh. And I don't care what you think, which is the biggest thing for us, because this podcast, my podcast, my TV show, everybody's saying, it does exist based on the subjective thinking of if somebody wants to rock with you or be a fan. So we say we don't care what someone thinks, but we have to care what they think. But I even mean personally, you can judge my content, you can judge my job. I just had this person on Facebook say something, I'm debating whether or not I was gonna do a video laughing at them because of how stupid they are. But you can't care. You can't really let it get to you, especially when you're killing it in life. Why should I care what one person from, who knows from from bum ass, wherever, who sits at their keyboard and they want to say something about me. He's like, dude, dude, did you see the car that I drove up here in? No. Do you see the house that, - Super Cirque, by the way. - That thank you, that I have. Do you know the fact that I've got two great kids? I've got a family that loves me. I might get to make people laugh. I get to show up and have fun with people. You can't change my day. - On it all. - You can't change my day. - You suck. - Don, I don't want it from never remember you. - Yes, that's what I've had to learn. - A lot of people have that depression, just. - Don. - Yeah, like in fact, if anything, I feel bad for you, man. I feel bad. - You're talking about this recently. I do feel bad because, right? You're mentioning you at 18. You would never lash out at somebody. How mad and sad you got to be the lash out of the guy. You never met because they're doing something. You're not? You would never, like I always say, you never walk into the store and go, I hate all these clothes, not buying them by. You would never do that. But people do it online for no reason constantly. And I think it's a sad thing. I think it's a, if you have goals, there's no time to go, I hate this guy. It just doesn't work. Like I've gotten back, I'm gonna respond to it. - What am I doing right now? What am I doing? - It's stupid. - I'm just done. - I'm stupid. - But even those people, even the person that I was just talking about, the other thing that I've learned, and I think I really learned this. And this isn't to talk about politics. It's, I think I really learned in the first election after President Obama. I learned that we have to listen to everybody. Even if I don't agree with your stances. Even if I think that your stances are incredibly toxic and potentially even dangerous to me as this black dude walking around in America, I still should listen and at least instead of just going, you think that way 'cause you're stupid or you're, I go, you know what? Why do you think that person who's angry, who needs to get online and say this thing? What must have been, what were they indoctrinated with? What was their life like? That they were driven to the point of it's 3 a.m. and I'm gonna say some really vitriolic shit to this person that I don't know and just, because I hate them, I think I'm so much this person, I don't know. So I feel bad for you. I feel bad for you that you have that in your life and I wish that it weren't like that for you. - It's usually what the response is. - I'm sorry you're having a bad day, man. - Yeah man. - The life gets better. Nine times that 10. It's not you, man, I'm sorry. - All right. - It's not you, man, I'm sorry. I've had people completely apostate. Dude, come on, be quick. - A little bit of empathy. - Yeah, a little bit. - You have to though, 'cause I grew up in a, I was like, pours hell, and everybody made fun of me and shit, I would never do that to you. Why would I do that? Even when I was getting made fun, I'm not gonna make fun of you, your mom's fucking, oh, I'm not gonna say it. Until I got older, my mom's so. Eventually someday you got to be like, dude, we all know your mom. - Somebody you get to turn, turn around and go look. - Yeah, that was about eighth grade, I turn into a, yeah. - Who knows that his mom is up? And then we all raise the raise hands. - He never messed with me again. He cried in front of class. It was amazing. Sorry, man, I had to. - Because sometimes you have to. - He knew the truth that his mom was a hoe when he just didn't want one to come out. - Yes, he was. - Even I knew that in the sixth grade. Shout out to Victor and to your mom. - You were so close, it's crazy. That was weird when you start with a vehicle. - Oh, I should really shout out to Vincent. - We'll stop there. - Vinnie, stop right there. - Vincent, so. - Damn, that was fun. - Vincent, so I was the wrong coast. (laughs) - The wrong coast. (laughs) - I grew up with the Mexicans. - Speaking of podcasts, what if podcasts? - What if podcasts, which we gotta have you as a guest. That if you both want to roll through. - Let's do it. - It is, how's the best way to describe the what if podcast? It is, I live by the log line that improvisation as a conversation and conversation is improvisation. We shouldn't know what we're gonna talk about, 'cause that's life. We end up meeting in strangers, and then by the time that we leave, we would have exchanged ideas. We would exchange some laughs, information. At the very least, I know more about you and you know more about me. And we bring up guests. I'm a lot of the guests who are in the comedic field, especially in the fields that I wanna know more about. You know, that I have sketch writers, I have improv stars. People that you've definitely seen on film and TV, but we also wanna have scientists and politicians, people that we can have in actual conversation, and learn, and then we take the things that we're learning and talk about, and we do improv scenes right on the spot. We do improv scenes and improv songs, improvise commercials, and the whole thing. - How is somebody supposed to keep up with this? - See, but that's it, they're not supposed to. - Okay, okay. - If they can play, great, but it depends on their comfort level. So if they come on and they just wanna tell the story and then we go, you know what, that sounds an awful lot. I'd love to see that moment when your mom dropped you off at school, and we all of a sudden go into it. - I like it, I'm proud of that. - It's so much faster. - That's the case. I do stand up, I do stand up, and I do a lot of stories. That's like, I have a really big YouTube channel, my biggest thing ever, it's called story time. I tell, from the ghetto, a lot of things have happened, but I'm also like, yeah, what's up, man? So it's a little juxtaposition of like, you're from where? - Yeah, let me tell you about it. - That's why people gravitate towards it. - I think so, I think so. I'm like, yeah, you look inviting, but I got shot once. You wanna hear about some crazy stuff? There's just crazy things. - You got shot? - It was a long story. Somebody, yeah, it was, it was, it's like a make, you know, potato guns. - Yeah. - Yeah, I hit me right here in the back of my head. These fools, but it's like potato guns, so it's not like, it's gonna kill you, but it can. - Yeah. - It hits you in the face, you're gonna. - He was close enough, yeah. - Oh, he was right, mom. Yeah, yeah. If it was in the face, I'd be dead. But in the back of the head, that's why your school's there. It's supposed to hold. - Wow. - But like, there's stuff like that. I'm like, wait, let me hear more. I like talking to gangmen, you guys. A lot of go, tell me something. And when gangmen guys are older, go, you're more calm. You're articulate. Just tell me what happened. Don't tell me you're gang 40 times. I mean, a lot of fans will tell me they're gang 30 times. Like, why do I wanna know? But nice to meet you, man. - Every blue moon, I'll run into this dude. Whether I'm on the east coast or west coast, I'm at the airport because I ain't braiding. I ain't braiding with stuff, man. I fucked with you, man. Ever since that's your pal's shirt. I was like, thanks, bro. I know, I know. It was, look, man. You know, 40 rollin' dudes. 40 rollin' dudes, and all of a sudden, yeah. You know what, but now, I just sit back. I watch comedy. I write. I read. You know what I'm saying? I got myself centered. I got out. I did a bid. But right now, all I do, I'm a big fan of physical comedy. Maybe if you could discuss with me the intricacies, I'm like, there's kids. - I love that. - I love that. If you, sure, we could sit down and discuss it all day. It's always a dude who has lived enough life. And that's why I say, if you comport yourself a certain way in life and you live long enough, you don't have to run around and yell in it, folks, and be crazy. You could learn stuff, and then you can be an OG. - You just, I see that guy. He has braids. - That guy, you just said, has a little bit of braids. - He has braids. - He has braids. - He's got the fat gut. - He's big, but he's not. - But the buddy used to be. - Yeah, he used to be. - He used to be jack. - I know that guy. I've met that guy. - Speaking of Shampalcho, I was watching the outtakes this morning. It was so funny. Oh yeah, it's one of the greatest, it's actually gone that is one of the greatest sketches - Of all time. - In American. - To me, DM Sandwich, all of them. - TV. That it's in the museum of TV as one of the greatest. - Yeah, when they were prompting you and trying to get you to like, you were so uncomfortable to say, it's way pretty good. I have to smack a bit of your ass. - See, I was uncomfortable. See folks said all the time. It's not that I'd never said the word bitch. - Of course. - Not, but a, at the time, I'm raised in a household where I was raised by women and up to that point, I'd never call the woman a bitch if I didn't have to. Like, yeah, sure, I might have thought it. And I was trying to think through the sketch. Plus, I wanted to find the funniest word. And even in that, we go down a list of words. And it just so happened that after we went back because, and not just bitch, then we had to decide on, was it slap? Was it choke? - Oh, really? - Was it punch? Because that's comedy, man. He had to break those things down. And at first, was slapping, I was like, oh, it was what, does Wayne Brady have to slap, slap a hoe, slap a bitch. It sounded so violent, it sounded so violent that it sounded too real. So, choke a bitch. Sound so stupid and over the top that when you deliver it straight faced, that's when I said, - It's the straight face. - I was like, okay, I'm still, I still don't like saying that, but I see why, and I forget who actually had the last word I forget if it was actually Neil. Or if it was Dave was like, no, no, no, you got to try that. I was like, no, no, you're right. Because that word, and plus, it's so stupid to think of me at that point, folks are like, choky, and the comedy too, it comes out of, think of what an intimate act it is to choke somebody. You can slap somebody, which is disrespectful. It's more violent to choke somebody and be that close, which is all of that stuff that went into that one line, the voices are like, oh, there was a lot of thought to try to make that thing right. - You're such an evil pamper. - Because I wanted it to be so right, 'cause each thing had to be thought of so that it was just, and it worked. It was, it's the straight thing. - You just went for it. That's what I love about it. - You just completely watched it. - Well, because I'm an actor, I mean, and it's a sketch. And also, and that's the thing that people, don't conflate and confuse what you think you know of someone on TV, but you know of someone in real life. Because it's actually, when you're like, Wayne Brady did that or he said, no, you don't know me. All you know is you may have just turned on one show that you see me on a show, on ABC when it first started, doing a show for a family. You don't know anything else that goes into someone's life and career. You think that you know that person. So it's a shock to you, Wayne Brady. - That's right. - Which is what, but even before that already done, five other things where I've killed folks on film. I've been, so I'm not, I'm not a Ken Dahl without a penis. - I think it was the generation. - Imagine setting your makeup, then forgetting. It's even theirs. Meet new grippy setting mist from Mabelie, New York. Just plump, dewey hydrated skin that still feels like your skin. Try new grippy setting mist from Mabelie, New York. - Going, that's the guy I love on his life. - Wait, now he's talking about choking up. - Right, but that's what I'm saying. It's crazy, but that's the thing that I think is weird about human nature. You're an actor, you just don't assume. People are like, I like that thing, so that's all you do because you're even like this, is like, oh yeah, you went for it. Well, what else was I going to do? I helped write the sketch. It's my job. It wasn't something special to me. It was like, I did it. So that's what I think is so weird about our business and that's what I've made a business out of. Being boxed in will kill you. It will kill your career. When I left that talk show and I did that sketch on purpose, because I was like, people have gotten too comfortable saying shit and using my name in the wrong way. So I'm going to remind you of what I do so that moving forward when I do everything else that I do, which by the way, I may release a kids record where I can sing to kids and then I may play a drag queen and then I might play a killer and then I might, but that's why I got into this business. I think anytime you let people box you into something that is the end of your career. You will no longer make money and I know that for a fact and that's the thing that I fight back all the time, which is why when people give me love about the Chappelle thing, this first thing, you know what I love them like, great, thanks. It trust me, it's done with, thank you. I'm very grateful at it. But like you said in the beginning of the interview, go read my IMDB or go read the Wikipedia. - Yeah, of course. - I've done a lot of shit. - So much. - So I'm proud of that. But I've always made it my life's mission to keep moving. If you stop, then you're done. - Yeah. Oh, I have the biggest weed channel on YouTube. That's what I do personally. Like I've been doing that for 10 years. - Right on. - But then I thought, I'm gonna get boxed in as the weed guy forever, we should start a podcast and that's how we start a podcast five years ago. - That's how it flipped. - Yeah, 'cause I'm like, I wanna be able to go, you can come on a show a night, be doing drugs and talk about drugs. What do you talk? The doctor drew on here, we don't have to get high. I'm like, no, no, we don't have to get high. It's a show. I happen to be the weed guy. If you wanna smoke, we can, we don't have to. That's why you see so much stuff everywhere, 'cause it's like our lives is what we do. - Now I've gotta check out that channel morphed or do you still have the back catalog of your weed stuff? - That channel, these are two separate channels. This one is just a channel. - Because I'd love to check that out. So what was your content like? Were you doing the interviews except everybody was high or were you an authority as well? - So what I do on my other channel, like I have a very crazy tolerance. So I might do like, let's take 3,000 milligrams and see if we can do the day or like, let's smoke a pound or we'll do crazy things, right? Or like I'll show you, let's go to New York and show you the underground black, like vice before vice. - That's what I do. - That's what I was doing. - That's what I was doing, but it was always funny. It's always fun, it's always goofy. So it's nine million references 'cause I have ADD and I like movies. And I just grow, like such a following. I do that on that channel and I met Marty and he did so much work with big people. You wanna work with me, all right? I do wanna start a podcast and then we started it and then they're separate, but they're not. But we turn my fans over here into podcast fans and then gain the podcast. He's like, you can't come on my wheelchair. What are you gonna do? Hey, I'm Wayne Rage. This gets in your eye next to me. Like, that's stupid, doesn't work. - Now you also just assumed that I don't get high. - Well, not can you like be smoking a bunch of weed on camera? - Why wouldn't I, if I got, because I'm an adult, I know there's so many people that go, I'm signed to Disney, I can't really smoke on camera. I'm not signed to Disney, but I mean now, if I did choke somebody in the street, then yes. And if I went to jail, then I'd definitely have a problem. - Okay, okay. - But if I use, now I don't smoke and it's not for any moral reasons, I don't do it. Like you have a high tolerance, I have no tolerance. The couple of times I have no tolerance. I can't use drugs, most, I have a hard time with prescription drugs. The way that my system's wired, I'm very, it's like if I even smell something wrong, it affects me 10 times harder than it would affect a normal person. So, I'm really careful. - The bike drugs, that'd be awesome. - If I like, I'd be the black Charlie Sheen out, imagine if the folks would be like, "Drugs!" But that's me with weed, I'm Charlie Sheen of weed. - That's the, that's what it says on the business card. - Hello, the Charlie Sheen of weed. - You can trust me, that's what it says. But yeah, that's, we've had a lot of people like, "Hey, I don't smoke, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I just can't." Like, "Yeah, I'm not gonna fucking force you." That's why I didn't even bust it out. I'm like, "That's, it's Wayne Brady, man." We're starting to swing hard. - We can't begin this full of bobs. But that's why I didn't. - But if you wanted to, you could have been fine to do it. - Yeah. - Next time I come back. - Perfect. - Oh, man. - I'll have a bed ready. And we'll turn the lights off if you just have the room. - That's it. - Once I did, I did Mike Tyson's podcast. - Oh, God. - And he, and he wasn't even talking to me about pot. What was he talking to me about? Was it mushroom, he's like, like, you don't do mushrooms, you don't do psychedelics, you don't do psychedelic drugs. You don't do these things that could be normal. You can't, you can't use it, you don't use it. - I was like, no, no, you know, I really don't do, do those things. But Mike is mad, mad, mad cool. But it was funny, he was like, yeah, man, I'm telling you. You do not, for the safety of everyone involved, I will not use a drug. Because the one time, I tell this story on my act sometimes is the very short version is, I came from out of town doing a road gig. And my daughter, it was just starting a brand new school. She was in high school, I forget, maybe she was a junior, and they were having the parents thing, and they wanted the parents, it's family day, the parents meet the other parents, she meet the faculty. I went to Medmen. - Oh God. - I don't know if it's still God, still open, but I went to the one on Melrose. And my best friend is my ex-wife. - Cool. - Yeah, we have a reality show on Hulu. It's called Wayne Brady's Family Remix. Yeah, like from-- - Yeah, how that not pop up from the from last season. And so it just explains our dynamic and everything. And I was exhausted. Like three days of shows traveling the East Coast, I came back and my life was like, "Dad, you've got to be at my thing." - Yeah. - Now, because, as you know from having a ADHD, I'm not affected by coffee. - I don't drink it at all. - Caffeine doesn't affect me. In fact-- - What it is? - Caffeine makes us tired. - I don't drink any caffeine at all, I like it. - Speak across the board, but for me, and it is a symptom caffeine makes me, because our nervous system is already here. So we don't need the other thing. So in fact, the caffeine delts it down a little bit. So I don't drink sodas that have caffeine and I don't drink coffee. And the only time I drink coffee is if it's a frothy Starbucks nonsense. So I was like, "Okay." And I don't do coke. I've never done coke in my life because I know that it would kill me, because of a doctor's a nose thing that I had once, and they use a little bit that I was getting surgery done. And they sometimes use a cocaine mixture to open up your nostrils. And the doctor was like, "Oh, you made it." Like, "Made it." It was, "Yeah, your heart." I went, "What?" He goes, "Oh, oh, oh, nothing, nothing. Good job, okay." So, yeah, I found out that I have a cocaine. - You're so bummed. - Cain allergy. - It was sod. So I've never done anything. So I was like, how do I stay awake? It is. New, it is 11 o'clock, gotta be this thing at seven. Can't go to sleep out, and so we, in our wisdom, we're like, "There's that place, Medmen. Let's see if they have something that's a natural stimulant that can work for someone with both of our body chemistries. Let's do it. You walk into Medmen, and Medmen, it looked like Apple. They got me. I got God. God. The dude was in white. He had a clipboard that was music playing. It didn't look like a place where you go to get drugs. There's a long-haired hippie. No. The guy was like, "Oh, hi there. Hi, I'm Brance. How may I help you?" Well, Brance, we are looking for something that's a natural stimulant, but I don't know if it, and I don't smoke the pot. I think I said, "I've got something for you right over here." He shows me this thing, and he's like, "If you take this, it was a, they should have the energy gummies." It wasn't a gummy. It was a Tiva pill. Oh. He said, "If you take this, this will give you guaranteed energy." I said, "Now, I don't know anything. I know there are different strains." Then the day goes, "Well, there's THC, and then there's a Tiva, and then there's this, and this is that." But this one is definitely designated for energy. It's like, "Are you sure?" Absolutely. Well, you are wearing a white lab coat, and you have a clipboard. I trust you. I trust you. We bought the pills, both of us. I went home, and I took a pill, didn't feel it. I called Mandy up. I said, "Do you feel the pill yet?" "No, I'm so tired as hell." Well, if one pill doesn't do it, then maybe I should take two. Yeah, I'm gonna take two, because I weigh more than you. So maybe that's what it is. I'll take. I always try to do that. I always do the same thing. I weigh more. I weigh more. I weigh more. And then I took a nap. When I woke up, Satan was sitting on my chest, talking to me. And I'm not talking about, "Oh, it was the moral quandary of Satan being on." The devil was sitting on my chest, and I'm under my blanket. I was like, "Fuckin' Wayne." And he was pointing at me and cursing at me, and he's like, "Answer the phone." The phone, and my phone, my cell was going off. I was like, "I can't move. I can't move to get the phone. You got me trapped." I let your arm go. And I reach my arm out, and I answer, and it was my agent. And apparently my agent, my lawyer, myself, and Mandy, because we have a production company together, we were discussing a deal. We had just signed a big deal for the show that we had created, and we were going through the. And I'm like, "Oh, no. I can't. Talk to anybody right now. I can't talk to anybody right now. You better talk to them, Wayne. They'll see that you're high. They'll see that you're high and you're bad. You're a bad boy. You're a bad father. Ooh, you're not going to make it to the school tonight. I will make it. You can't hit me. Excuse me? What did you say? And that was the assistant. Huh? Are you on the phone? No. I mean, no. Tell Andy, I'll call right back. Okay. I'm going to call me back in five minutes. I'm going to get off the bed. I can't move. Then, my house manager comes and she knocks on my door because she had to come and get my dogs and do some of the. Hey, Wayne, are you inside? Go away. I don't want you to see me like this. And the thing is, I remember all of this. I remember it, but I was high. I was so high. And the devil was here with me and then the devil changed into my lawyer. That's it. That's it. That's it. Some people would say, "Hey." And then, at the very end of this whole drama, I was speaking to them on the phone, I started doing voices. You should do it. And then he was on the phone. She's like, "And she's texting me." She's like, "Wait and stop. Wait and stop." I was like, "Stop on. Stop on. Stop on." And then I hung up and she told them that I had a stomach issue and then I fell off the bed, wrapped in the comforter, and knocked myself out and went to sleep. Perfect. I woke up good. I woke up good, but I also woke up at 6 o'clock having to get to the school by 6.30 so that I could make it for the thing at 7. And then my daughter, the part that hurts me the most is I was talking to my daughter. And she goes, "Dad, are you going to be there?" I said, "I'm going to be there. I'm fine. I'm not high, Miley." You have to believe that I'm not high. You have to believe that I love you and I'm not high. The devil said, "I love you." You're high. I'm not high. Well, I would. Don't believe anybody. Don't believe them when they tell you I'm high. Don't believe them. She was so mad at me. But then, cut to Mandy went to the thing with her boyfriend. She got high. She didn't know. She's like, "Oh, it doesn't affect me either. She got high when she got there." And then we talked about it later, "Oh, no. She got high right before they left, she goes, "Oh, I got so paranoid about what should I wear." And she ended up wearing a dress that was like a wedding dress. And Jason was like, "Why are you wearing that?" He's like, "Animals." Because I have to look good. I have to look good. I have to look good. She's walking around with a dress, an all-white lace dress. Wedding dress and the devil. These are good. These are good apples. Dude. So, that's why I don't do drugs. I love the explanation of why you don't do drugs. So I'm trying to protect you and I'm trying to protect your audience. Respect. Awesome. That was awesome. Well, that's not like a DMT trip. We had a horrible scary DMT. Somebody tell us some scary stuff. I'll never do it. What's DMT? DMT is just, uh, think of like mushrooms and acid times a hundred, but it only lasts for a couple of minutes. Gel to mist technology locks in your look for up to 24 hours, with flexible all-day-configure. No tightness. No stickiness. No residue. Just clump to a hydrated skin that still feels like your skin. Maybe it's Mabelie. Nope. See, that's the thing that I don't understand about being high. I get the escapism of being high and some people like one of my dearest friends, he microdosis, acid, every day. Yeah, I have a friend like that. It's not good. For him, it works. It's a thing. I'm like, it works, but I don't understand being on a ride that you're like, oh, this is horrible. That's the thing that I, that thing when the devil said, I couldn't get a, being cognitive enough to know, oh, this thing is happening to me, but I do. It's like sleep paralysis. Yeah, it's the worst. I, so I don't understand now I'm a hypocrite because I, because I also have done ketamine therapy. Oh, how is that? Now, let me, let me stress for anybody listening, ketamine therapy. I'm not at home doing K by myself. Don't do that. You will die. You will die. It's with your doctor, your therapist, and it's done for trauma work and you're sitting. You've got a, a, um, sleep mask on. They're playing music and, and she's there with you, checking you at, at these points, but it is one of those things. It's the best sleep I've ever gotten in my life. I have to, I can't not sleep. That sounds so cool. It's the best sleep that I've ever gotten and it helps you deal with some shit. And I just remember going like, oh, wow, look, look, look at this movie. And I'm awakened enough that I can get that I am in the middle of this. But it's the one time that I was like, oh, I'm cool. I'm, I'm not stuck. I, I'm okay with this because at one point, there's a safety valve like when she gives you the first dose and the light kind of peeks up and then she goes, hey, do you want the rest? And it'll go the rest of the half hour. You can stop. So your cognizant enough to be able to back it up. You're in the head. That's the line. That's all I want. That's all I want. That sounds cool. Yeah. I don't have to fall out into the pit. Just enough to sleep and hang on. No. Yeah. I don't want that. No. No. No. No. No. - Go, that would be a dope way, is it? It's time to leave. - Thank you, that's lesson. - I mean, have all these dope dreams and everything. - Yeah, I'm a frail. - A frail. - Who cares? But hopefully by the time that time, do you have robot legs? You're gonna live to honor 10. - Not just robot legs, you'll be able to take your brain and put it in a brand new body. - Let me be like six two. - The future. - Let me say, give me, oh, I was going to look like Josh Hartman, like I'm tall, gangly. - This is one of the best conversations I've ever had on a podcast. - I'm glad to hear that. - You talked about ketamine and Broadway. I knew this was gonna happen. - We appreciate you fun stuff. - From ketamine to Broadway. - I appreciate you. And then Miss Black for President. - Yep, October. - October at the Vineyard Theater in New York. - In New York. If if you're in New York otherwise if you want you can catch the what if with Wayne Brady and Jonathan Mangum it's available wherever this podcast and every other podcast is available also I think Wednesdays I think Wednesdays. It's our release day and it's available on our YouTube as well Please follow me online at mr. Brady baby. It's m-i-s-t-e-r Brady baby on Instagram We'll link everything to Wayne Brady on TikTok into the whole thing if you're a if you like to get high and watch Game shows. Let's make a deal is on every day It is one of the best forms of daytime entertainment and you don't have to be high to watch it in fact You you can be high and enjoy it. Just guess you can not you cannot be high and love it It's on CBS. It's one of the best shows ever So so please just stay tuned. I just thought about that. You're on let's make a deal Chris got prices right prices right. You guys have done it. You guys took over you guys took over the pop culture of the day Slowly but you're right too, but still slowly but surely I just thought about that all right. Thank you so much. I appreciate you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you from Wayne Brady from Marty. I appreciate you have the best day. Thanks Marty lady Oh