Luke James and Mojo Brookzz in Rare Form

- I could cry right now, bro. Yeah. - Word? - Let me look up. - We both gonna look up. - No joke! - Look at the white people over there, like, "We don't say that." - Can I take this off? - Yes! - I was speaking at a funeral. - You was like, "I killed?" - I was like, "I killed." - Take it there! - Let 'em have it! - What you gonna do without me? - Auntie is drunk! - Is there something that you haven't done yet? - Porn, it's crazy. I've never joked in. - Wait a minute! You got your arms out. You trying to show off in front of my people. - Mojo done bullied the room. He was like, "Y'all better go blue!" - Radio! - I don't even know what's going on. ♪ Who can love you like me ♪ ♪ Nobody ♪ - What is up, neighbors? So our last stop on tour was Chi-town. Yes, Chicago. And these two fellas came through and put in work. I'm talking about Luke James and Mojo Brooks. Mojo had us laughing from the belly. And when Luke James started singing, "Baby, ladies, you're welcome." Fellas, too. Let's just be honest. So please enjoy. And with this being our last stop on tour, we want to keep it going. So tell us in the comments, where should we head next? - Aw, shoot! - Aw! - Hey! Aw, shoot! Yeah! I know that's right. I know that's right. I know that's right. Y'all look so good! Aw, shoot now! Yeah! Come on! Come on! All my people in the building! Welcome to House Guest Live, y'all. This has been an incredible ride. This is our last stop of our first tour here in Chicago. Do you like Red Bull? - I do. - You do? I just wanted to get this to you. 'Cause you had your wing on, and you already lit up blue, and I just, I feel like you deserve that for you. Y'all ready to get this show started? - Yeah! - Aw, shoot. All right, well, give me that music back. Ooh, y'all look good in here! What's up, Chicago? Y'all, what a trip. This has been incredible. Okay, so I wanna bring out our first guest. This gentleman is an incredible talent. He is a performer, an actor, singer, songwriter. You know him from so many roles. He brings music to life in a way, man, it'd change your life to see him perform. You might know him from "Them." You might know him from "The Chi." Give it up, right now, for Luke James! - Hello. Thank you. Whoa. I thought I was trying to get it. I was. I was trying to get a word with you. - You know, you know. Right! Do you know, do you know how fine you gotta be to be able to just walk out and be like. I done gave away Red Bulls, coupons for sunglasses, all that kind of stuff. - No, no, I invited them here, so it's good. Give it up one time for Luke James! - Boob Joy! - What's up, man? - Brother, how you doing, man? How you doing? - Fine. - Oh, man. - Somebody said, "Fine!" - Um, I'm magical. - Yeah? - Yeah. - Is that how it feels? - I mean, I feel that way right now. - Yeah. - Talking with you. This is amazing. - It's amazing. It's amazing. - All that right there was crazy. You know, I'm grateful. Thank you so much. - Yeah. - Yeah, truly, truly magical. - I'm so glad that you are here. I'm so glad that you had the time and that you made the time. - Of course. - 'Cause you know, like, life as it is now, you know, we all got a lot to do. And people were, I was having this conversation with friends about free time and meeting up when we have free time. And it was like, we're there, free time? - Right. - The time we meet up is the time we have made. - Made time. - We've made time to hang out, to be together. So I really do appreciate you being here. - I'm grateful, man. I'm grateful. This is beautiful. Congratulations on all this. - This is crazy. - Black man, black man. - Sold out, double sold out. - Now listen, listen. - That's crazy. - Double sold out. - Hello. - Chicago don't play with nobody, though. - You see me? - When they like you, they love you, and it's Sunday. - It's Sunday. - It's Sunday. You dig? - You dig. I think about this when I think about every time you come out with a project, every time you're a part of something, you seem to be challenging yourself in a new way. You seem to be doing it in a way that shocks people who have come to know you as one thing. - Yeah. - You're like, "I'm gonna just put a little bit "of something on this." - Yeah. - You are almost ready to be done shooting "The Chi," is that right? - Yeah, we're about a week and some days for the last season, season eight of "The Chi." - Right? - Thank y'all. - What does that feel like to be coming up on what is the end of this show, the end of this era for the show? - Man, well, you know, first and foremost, to be on a show that celebrates us, that's a love letter to us, about us, by us, from us. - Yeah. - And especially in this time, I'm just grateful to be on a tube that people can see themselves and hopefully feel loved. - Yeah. - I mean, we made some history, and I'm grateful to be a part of that, you know? I'm from New Orleans, so I'm like, appreciate you, yeah. - How come people from New Orleans always say it like that? - I mean, I mean-- - I'm from New Orleans, baby. - Whoop, whoop. - And the baby was implied. - Well, it's definitely implied. But you know, we're a Northern Caribbean kind of place, you dig? We've been there, and you know, we're just different from everywhere. And, but also, some of y'all lineage is New Orleanian, you know what I'm saying? The Great Migration and stuff. I'm not gonna get into that. Y'all know y'all history. But you know, just to be on a show that celebrates this place, a part of this place, an aspect of this place, to shine some light on the love that exists in this beautiful city? - Yeah. - I'm just grateful, man. I'm really, really, really just grateful. Ain't nothing like it. Not a lot of us are working, so I'm just grateful to have a job, you dig? - Real talk, real talk. - Yeah, yeah. - Speaking of the job, do you remember what it was like for you to read those first pages for your character? - Yeah. - Do you remember? How did you prepare yourself for the kinds of stories you would be bringing to life on this show? - If you know Lena Waithe. - Yeah. - Yeah, shout out to Lena Waithe. - Yeah. - You know, it's grounded in something, an idea that may not be popular, you know? Maybe a space that people aren't keen to want to get into in public. - Yep. - So when I received the opportunity for the role, you know, I took heed to what she was asking of me. And I just wanted to be a vessel, you know? I just wanted to be a vessel for the work, and hopefully somebody can see themselves on TV, and we can just talk about everything we need to talk about as a family, as black people. We need to get over some things that we've been dealing with for years and years so we can get to this real shit. Can I cuss? - Yeah. - Yes? Shit. - Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. - Yeah, yeah. - My mama over there, but I can't see her now, so we good. - Your mama dressed to the nines. I love your mama. - She cool, right? - She's solid, she's solid. She's solid. - She cool, right? - Pardon my French. - I said, "Mama, is that a silk suit?" It's like ornate, got a dragon and some flowers on it. I said, "I got it." - She said, "I got a show off for my babe." - I said, "Konnichiwa." - No, I just, you know, it was a challenge. - Were you ever nervous about-- - Absolutely. - How people might receive? - Yeah, definitely. I'm definitely nervous. I mean, you know, this world is a scary place, but Lena really kind of like poured into me and just, you know, told me, you know, honored that I was interested to do the role and she would take care of everything and we would do this, we'd be on this journey together. And the response has been awesome. I mean, there's some ups and downs to it, but that's for those people to work on. My job is to create the energy to have the conversation. Hopefully, it's respectable, it's respectful, it's loving, it's caring, because these your brothers, these your sisters, what you gonna do with us? - And that's it, yeah. - They make everything great, so don't play, you know? Let's love each other, so I'm grateful, man. - It's incredible to see that. - Been lit. - It's incredible. - Thank you. - Clap it up for that. - Thank you. - It's also like, when I was saying to you, it feels-- - It feels like you level up and you just, and you like stretch yourself with every project. - I mean, that's a blessing. - And you do stuff, I'd be like, how did, who is his agent? - Right. Well, let me tell you, some, you know, my agent, my agents, my managers, they're solid. - Are they looking for new clients? - Absolutely. - 'Cause look, I do some pushups. - Real talk. - Yeah, look, you know what I'm saying? - You have an acting career in particular, - Yeah. - That I love and respect in the kind of way that you aren't playing or doing like, oh, you're like, oh, that's Luke. - Right. - Where you have some characters, some actors, you're like, they basically just play themselves with different clothes on. - Yeah. - Right? When I saw you, was it them? - Yeah. - Man! - Man! - Yeah, yeah. - I said, I was watching TV like this, I said, what in the world is going on here? I watched half the series like this. - What? What was that like for you? What was that creative experience like for you? In the show, you play two characters. - Two characters, essentially. This is a brother who is just trying to find his purpose, his self. He's just been, you know, he's been a part of, in the system, you know, giving up at birth, just been left out. Left to the system to be dealt with, you know? He aged out of the system. - Right. - And now he's trying to live a fulfilling life, but just doesn't feel the purpose. Never been told he's loved. - Right. - And he aspires to be an actor. The very thing that's like one of the hardest things to do, there ain't much love in it. - Right. - There's so much rejection. - Yeah. - But for him, his perspective is, well, if I can get on TV, somebody's gonna see me. Somebody might love me. - Then. - You know, then. - I'll be enough. - I'll be enough then. So, you know, it's that going and taking the role to seeing that and then letting all the scary stuff just happen around you. - Man, the monster. - Yeah, the monster. That was fun. Six hours of makeup and all of that. Yeah. - When you first got into it, what was the first thing you said? Like, 'cause you know how something, like when you see yourself for the first time in this kind of makeup, in this kind of costume, you don't, you're not yourself. - No, no, no. I'm a Gemini. True Gemini. - Ah. Oh, that explains a lot. - Not, oh God, oh my God. You know you love it. - She said, she said-- - What you gonna do without Prince? - I know, that's right. - What you gonna do without Maxwell? What you gonna do without me? - Scared of you? - That man said, hold on, I can do it, hold on, I can do it, I can do it, I can do it, I can do it. - What you gonna do without Prince? What you gonna do without Maxwell? - That's what it felt like. That's what it felt like. That's what I saw. - She said, and the end. - And the end. - And the end. - And the end. you know that's what it was i mean you know i'm i'm i love i mean i've been this way as a kid so i've you know my mother grateful to my mom you know she just really like created curated a world for me to um just be great yeah you know and you went out and was like i'm good i am that i got an opportunity to do something different that i've never done before right and it was scary to do what was the first thing you said when you saw yourself in the in the mirror did you have like a was there a movie line that you did because i all i heard was oh so you're telling people i'm a monster remember that from uh uh what was it uh tales from the crib he said oh so you're telling people i'm a monster he bent his arm back oh no i love that movie it's so good classic no i i i mean when i looked in the mirror i mean they cut my hair into a flat top and i was like oh my god i'm so good i'm so good i'm so good i'm so good i was like okay here i am i'm him and let's take let's go on this journey you know what does he need what does he want let's go there okay so can we talk about a new edition hold on can i can i take this off now i got a sweat up here every yeah you can take it off i suppose yeah take it off man man go ahead luke take it off i should have dressed like you you didn't tell me what we was doing so new edition johnny gill yo right jg was there another role in this project that you wanted so i was called about this i was called for it thank god for elijah kelly who played ricky bell in the movie and he called me while he was in the meeting because he inquired who was a part of it and they hadn't thought about me and he brought my name up at the table what yeah they had not they had not thought of you no they never they hadn't thought about me man um and then you did that oh yeah yeah yeah man i'm grateful he spoke my name at the table you know and bang i'm here you know it changed my life yeah yeah i've been mimicking johnny gill since i was since i could sing is that right especially when i was you know when my voice changed i was like oh my god i'm so good i'm so good i'm so good i'm so good changed from like i had a little girly voice at first and then one summer puberty puberty hit and uh never went back wasn't the same so i had to like really lean into voices that felt like where i was going and uh i mimicked the hell out of johnny gill so fast forward life uh slip on your red dress and then what and then what shout on them high heels some of that sweet perfume smells good on you you know how johnny do i don't got hot i get it bro i get it if something happens if something happens when you start singing do you remember the first time when you were singing a song and you changed the room because you have that kind of energy right like you there are some people who will say you're like oh that was really nice but look this lady drinking somebody else's drink she she was like this that's what i wanna do no oh i'm sorry no but do you remember do you remember the first time you were singing and you were like oh there's a power in this like i'm there's something different happening i don't know there's been like a plethora of moments like that in my life that i mean even to this day even this moment right here you know it's like always like reassurance that you're doing what you're supposed to be doing i'm grateful i'm grateful to fi to be in a space that allows me to be me do you remember the first thing you sang in an up to an audience oh yeah um it was like it was no please it's just us it was like it was it was very no it was very it was very kiddy it was like amazing grace how sweet the sound oh you had a pop to say the rest like me i once was lost but now i'm found once blind but now i see in the youth choir and then they were like scott you wouldn't do something i'd be like no no i'm gonna do a monologue yeah no that that was a moment right there that was my first solo in in church i didn't get one after that um well because i my my you know god bless her and i love her um uh choir instructor was really she was really keen on having the kids whose voices had changed and my voice hadn't changed and i don't know maybe i wasn't given at that time but it was i was trying but that moved me i moved me enough like i felt the energy and yeah my mom my mama loved it so that made me just keep going you know exactly yeah exactly because you're also a very talented singer and you're also a very talented singer and you're also a very talented singer songwriter yeah thank you so you have songwriting singing performing acting modeling all the rights just thank you is there something that you haven't done yet that you want to do more of is porn it's crazy i've never um oh i'm joking so he was trying to see if we was listening and turns out we all was this episode is brought to you by better help neighbors we are in pride month and even with so much to celebrate for a lot of people within the lgbtq plus community this season brings up a lot between identity relationships family dynamics almost too much for anyone to know to carry alone and what i do know is that community and support matter and that extends to your mental health as well so talking to a licensed therapist can make a real difference when you're navigating any and all of that that is why i am so glad that this episode is sponsored by better help better help is the world's largest online therapy platform over 30 000 licensed therapists serving more than six million people and with a 4.9 out of 5 average rating from over 1.7 million people and with a 4.7 million client reviews how about that you get matched based on your needs and your preferences and so if it's not a right fit you can switch at any time pride month is a celebration of community visibility and the freedom to be yourself and a reminder of how important support and connection can be for mental health so sign up and get 10 off at betterhelp.com house guest that's betterhelp.com house guest i don't want to be cliche or anything but i do want to be as honest as i possibly can be i feel that i'm an honest soul yeah um really my my new goal right - Now, say it, just say it. - I don't want to sound. - No, do it. Say it, say it. - I really just, I really just want to be a good father. That's it. I know, I know. I know, I know. I know, I know! I know, I knew it would feel cheesy. I knew it. - No, it's not cheesy. It's like, it's not cheesy at all. It's just like, okay. - I mean, but that's my truth. Right now, I'm doing everything, you know, the challenging stuff, acting, that's really what I want to do, music, I do that. Now I have a kid, man, and that, like, really, that's my, like, I mean, you know, he's looking at me, man. Everything I do, my words, the way I walk, the way I respond, the way I love. - Somebody described it once to me as, it's like your heart is walking around in the world. - Exactly that. - Has left your body and walking around in the world. - No, man, I could cry right now, bro. Yeah. - Word? - Yeah, no, I'm like, let me look up. 'Cause nigga, I've been one of the greatest you got on this stage. - No, man, you know, it's, I'm the only child, so I'm only, it's always been just me and my mama, so. - You know, it's, means everything. Yeah. Yeah, thank you. - I know, I know! - Stay here. Say a joke, man, give me something. - Okay, we gonna play a game? - Okay, let's do it. - You wanna play a game? - Please, something. - Please, man. This one is called Read the Room. We've got some situations that come up in life. - Okay. - And this is where your wings are gonna come into play here, all right? You pull the first one. - Oh, man, okay, here we go. Loaning someone money comes with the right to judge how they spend it. - Now, if you think that's true, you will lift up blue. If it's false, you will lift up red. So what would you say, true or false? If you loan somebody money, - Mm-hmm. - you are free to judge how they use that money? - Well, they all, that's a conversation. - Yes, it's supposed to hear, 'cause you still owe me. 'Cause you still owe me. - I'm gonna know something if somebody starts screaming. For anyone else, one, I'm not gonna loan nobody no money. - Right. - Oh, I'm gonna give you the money. - Well. - Go do your thing. I hope you use it right, 'cause I'm not gonna give you no more money. - Right. - You got one time. - See, that's so interesting, 'cause I say-- - If you get that one time. - People talk about it all the time, like you said, don't loan people money, you give it to 'em, 'cause you shouldn't be loaning it if you need to have it back. - Right, right. - I disagree. 'Cause if I'ma loan you money, we going to get a promissory note. We going to get a note of Republic. I need the justice of the peace for a witness. You could put a payment plan on Klarna. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - I got a Square app, you could hit me every week. - That's funny, a Square app. - No, I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. Okay, what do y'all think? Raise your wings, let me see. True or false? Red is false, true is blue. I don't know, that's a lot of, that's a lot of-- - Damn, America. - We gotta find one way to be. - That's pretty split, that's pretty split to me. Okay, here, let's see this one, let's see this one. Getting fired. - Getting fired? - Yes. - Is licensed to cause pure chaos on the way out. You fire me, baby. You better send me an email before I got in there. - After how many years? Radio! Ain't no way. - I'm an active fool. I'm not an active fool. - Y'all better move the office. - I'm an active fool, 'cause there's going to be some smoke coming out of this city. - I'm an active fool, yeah. - Fired? - Fired, yeah. - Not relieved of my duty. You gonna fire me? After all I've done? Okay, let me see, raise your wings. Let's see, I think I already know. - Active fool. - That's blue, yeah? - That's blue. - That's blue. Okay, you go next one. Snoozing more than once is disrespectful to your bedmate. - Are you a snoozer? - Yeah, yeah, I'm a, I'm a, I'm a, I'm a, what time is it? I can do that, I can do a little, I can get some more sleep. This is terrible, but I'm gonna tell y'all this story anyway. - Tell the story. - So, my brother, his first son was getting baptized. We were in New York driving to Connecticut, and he was saying, "I'll come by 6:00 a.m. to pick you up, "so we can ride up." And I was like, "Bet, no problem." I set the alarm, I got into the room at 4:00 a.m. But I set six alarms, so chokes on you. First alarm goes off, I must have hit it. He calls the room. I answer the phone and say, he's like, "You what?" I was like, "Yeah, man, I'm getting dressed. "I'll be down there in a minute." Hang up the phone and go back to sleep. 20 minutes later, he's knocking on the door. "I know your ass ain't in there asleep." - Yeah. - I walked out, I had the remote for the TV, my phone, and my toothbrush. - You were ready, or not ready? - I wasn't ready at all. But I had the remote for the TV, my toothbrush, and the steamer, walking out. He said, "Where are you going right now?" I was like, "I don't know, I panicked." Okay, let me see, raise your wings, let me see. Blue is, red is not, okay, that's great. - Okay, okay, let's see, let's see, next one, next one, next one. My friend's enemy is my enemy too. Hold on, don't lift him up, don't lift him up. She like, "Cause no!" - We need to know. - We need to know, right now. - That was a lot. - Yeah. I'ma say, that's, I got some pretty petty friends. - See, that's the thing though, you gotta know your friend. - I got some pretty petty friends. - You gotta know your friend's level of pettiness. - I'm talking petty LaBelle. - What if it's somebody you know? - Right. - Don't matter. - Really? It doesn't matter at all? Hold on, hold on, I gotta get the mic, 'cause you got something to say. - Come on, get the mic. Come on. Come on. - Man, she said no, 'cause, absolutely not. - Absolutely not. - Okay, now wait, now what? - It doesn't matter. If she don't fuck with him, I don't fuck with him. - Really? - Period. - Has it happened in real life? - Yes. - Yes. - Y'all couldn't see her, but it was, it was universal black woman for yes. For absolutely. - Okay, let's see. - Raise your wings up. - Okay, so y'all not fucking with them too, okay. You ready? - Right. - Okay, last one. Last one. - If you don't tip at least 20%, you shouldn't go your ass out to eat. - Wait, I would. No. - No, I tip. I always tip over, over, over. I over tip. - Over tip. - I over tip. - No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. - What she say? - Hold on, hold on. - Your over tip covers. - What she say? - What you say? - She say your over tipping covers our tip. - She said baby when we out with you, your over tip covers our tip. - No, no, no. - No, no, no. - No, no. - No. - No. - It's the service. 100% the service. - It's based on the service. - I'll tip, I'll tip regular. I always tip. Regardless, I mean the service is trash. I mean sometimes it's already included, so you gotta make a choice on which one you gonna do. - No. - I'm gonna tell you right now. I'm gonna tell you right now. Y'all probably gonna be mad at me about this. But you know, you go out to eat and it's six people or more, and they do that automatic stuff, but they don't automatically give you good service. And when they come over to the table, I say hey, I know the procedure is typically to do a go ahead and do a go ahead and 20% and go ahead, but you can go ahead and take that off. And we are more than willing to tip you in reflection of your service. - Oh. - And you never know. You might get more than 20%. We about to get out of here for our intermission. Give it up one time for Luke James, y'all. - Hey neighbors, real quick. If you love moments like this, make sure that you are subscribed and officially a part of our neighborhood. We've got nearly 300,000 neighbors who have already joined us, and we've got plenty more chats, laughs, and guests on the way, and I don't want you to miss any of it. Oh, and by the way, we're also on Spotify, where premium subscribers can watch without any commercial breaks. all right back to the episode y'all saw mary j blige right any y'all watched that episode y'all i did not know that that was gonna go like that the worst part was when we put it out i was like yeah because you know the neighbors they get it we all we didn't know and so now we know when i tell you y'all made it so i ain't never gonna be able to talk to this woman any day in my life they said they said sis it is not that serious and then everybody started replaying the commercial i was like no this was the opposite lord have mercy so luke did you hear you hear the doorbell i heard it you're the doorbell oh you know that's probably our next guest i mean the love this person receives from chicago is unmatched blew up in a major major way during covid and as now great stages all over the world comedy is his bag and his gift y'all give it up one time for mojo thank you he said oh you're so fine wait i know you can make money in comedy right i know you can make money but i didn't know you could make so much money that you got a louis vuitton yo-yo he was in the back we me and luke walked on stage he was in the back he was like yes what's up blake i said what is that he said it's a yo-yo player okay shit ain't shit baby it ain't nothing baby i don't know why you sound like that to us but you did it for me i think it's this outfit they think i'm an old nigga that's all i mean what's up chicago thank you what does what does that feel like you know what man anytime i'm out in the city or i'm in settings like this i i can't describe it it's like i know them like these are my people right like it that that's that's what the that's what the love that's that's what it feel like man and anywhere i go in this country even when i'm out the country it's always at least one person in chicago like hey we came to make sure we pulled up to come fuck with you is that for real man yeah for sure and i if y'all never heard me say it thank you seriously for what y'all done for me for real thank you it's funny because i was in preparing for this conversation with you i was doing i did a deep dive into some of your history where you began how you started we share a similar approach to who the group is and how you started and how you started and how you started and how you started and how you started and how you started and how you started and how you started and how you started or a similar vision of who the greats are in comedy and you talk about bernie mack yeah yeah right yeah you're talking about bernie mack and that bernie mack was like you performed the bernie mack set yeah you were like comedy comedy is something it's something you know what growing up my parents used to watch dev comedy jam comic view all the time and i would just be like a flower on the wall sneaking you know i'm saying watching seeing what you know martin lawrence and all those guys and i would just be like a flower on the wall sneaking you know what i'm saying those comedians was doing but when the kings of comedy came out i was in the fifth grade and we was on spring break and i remember seeing bernie mack and i was like man this that's magic yeah i went to school the next day i was doing his whole set next thing you know i'm in the principal office because i didn't see it i didn't see a motherfucker so many times you see that motherfucker bobby yeah yeah that was my favorite joke and then the one he wouldn't be able to do this joke now milk and cookies milk and cookies you snuck it in but that's like like he couldn't even do that joke right today him downstairs yeah he said i got a motherfucking name but no that was uh bernie definitely and then you know you know being from the same city that he is i think that just them comedic roots is just right here everybody in chicago i swear to god it's about at least 100 of these people in the audience are comedians right on the regular no yeah yeah yes on the regular yeah i don't know if you've heard us we've been we've been talking all night in chicago only place you can come to where they have an outfit on that ain't shit but they'll tell you that your outfit you shouldn't put that shit on like we just one of them cities man we say what's on it we say the first thing coming out here and it's just you know i wouldn't rather been from any other city i hear that i hear that i hear that then listen so you're doing bernie mcgee call to the office gotta explain that but when did you get your first taste of like i am funny it's crazy i was speaking at a funeral what i was y'all trying to throw me for a doozy tonight no it ain't even like that i was speaking at a funeral and i as i was speaking i was you know going over a story that you know you know reminded me of the loved one that we all had shared right the story was just funny and everybody in the church everybody in the church was laughing like it was like you was like i killed i was like i killed for real my uncle my uncle leaned up out the casket like that boy is good so yeah i was like yeah i'm like i guess i'm special i got something i got something so yeah this gonna be me yeah yeah yeah i'm killing this shit that was like the first time though i spoke at that funeral and it was like and i was everybody was laughing and i remember my sister came to me and she was like boy you're a little comedian and that's what they always used to call me like the little comedian you're the little comedian like even i was nine eight nine years old i was a little comedian was there something else you almost were right because this happened and it's so weird to say this happened fast for you because it didn't really happen fast for you you have been man i mean you have been working man like you said it ain't it didn't happen overnight um i i started this in in 2014 what were you doing for what was your job i was the security officer i was keeping shit safe around here in these streets man with a yo-yo in his hand i was kidding man i was i held all this shit down but no honestly though i'm gonna tell you something crazy i'm gonna tell you what almost happened so in 2017 december 2017 i started going viral like consistently started going viral in 2018 a month later i got fired from my job and my mom was like look collect your unemployment it looked like this comedy thing like you might some might be coming from it focus on that yeah and i'm and shout out to my mom oh he's the mom oh my dad my dad wasn't trying to hit that shit he like you need to find you need to go find another job but my mom like do the comedy thing man i and i went out then i went out on the road and i would go sell out rooms you know 120 seats 150 seats and uh before i had started going viral i had went through the um the hiring process to be a chicago police officer yeah yeah yeah i was gonna be a police who said that somebody said who said that y'all ain't shit man you said in chicago let me explain though you know i was i was trying to find something that would give me security for me and my daughter you know i'm saying i just wanted to provide a better life for her i couldn't survive off of what i was doing doing security and i'm like man i got this criminal justice degree let me just go be a police officer i had went through everything the polygraph the the physical test all of that and i didn't hear from them like they just was like just never hit me back like they ghosted me and i'm like i know y'all need police motherfucker just robbed me yesterday i know i know y'all need police i know y'all need police especially on the south side right so i'm like it's in the back of every single police car we hiring we hiring so it was like they forgot about me man i had started going viral and i was doing good and then they hit me up what yes they hit me up and like it was like the beginning of 2019 and i'm not gonna lie i was doing bad my car had just got repoed the views and the videos was like up and down and i had i remember my sister she was working at a warehouse as the hiring manager and i told her like i need to i might need you to throw me something so i can get in work you know my money up real quick i was doing bad and the police department reached out and they was like hey we still got your application from 2016 what they say what it's 2019 three years later yeah yeah yeah i almost forgot i applied right and they was like look they was like you know we still hiring would you like to move on to the next process and this which would have been the training for the police academy and i'll tell y'all man i had absolutely nothing i was living with my mom my car had just got repoed i didn't know what i was gonna do and i sat in the room and I'm like what up like I'm talking to myself and God because it is one he said if you trust me I'm gonna make your dreams come true now I don't know what that means I don't know if that means right like I don't I don't but seriously listen I don't know if that means I don't know if that means okay go become a police officer and save the world when God talked to you he expect for you to use the common sense that he gave you so when he said it and I thought about it and I said man I weighed out my options I was like I can either really dig into this and see how far it take me and I had never gave my all to anything I had never gave my all to anything no matter what it was and I was so good at so many things but I never fully devoted myself to anything and I said you know what I'm gonna go this way and I ain't never look back whoa give me a clap it up for that because when he listen when he what'd you say in the back you said I walk the dog on your ass it's a yo-yo trick when you they know the they know the yo where my people at 40 and up at least and let me tell you something for them for them the aunties you got them outside on the Sunday they don't play like that in Chicago they do not they not man listen to me if they outside on the Sunday in Chicago and they know they got to go to work and take them kids to school it's love real love man they love you love they love you man are you coming out with your arms out your sleeves I told him I told him they like that kind of shit I ain't gonna lie to you they like that I told him you start blowing up online and then you start getting all these other opportunities right it wilding out yeah was one of those opportunities do you feel like it was a big people call like a big break have you had your big break yet you think man you know what bro I'm I'm so grounded I don't even feel like I made it yet really yeah man I feel like I got a lot more work to do I feel like sometimes when you get that I made it it's like I'm comfortable with what this is right now right right and you can't see you can't see beyond that right so I don't ever want to feel like I made it I made it I made it I made it you know I'm saying but I've been blessed for some of these opportunities to propel me to the next level you know to get to where I really want to be and wilding out was one of them you know that was my first TV opportunity Nick Cannon reached out to me personally it was like yo I think you'd be perfect for the show he was like come out to LA I went to LA did the audition they had me on the show when I first got there was a love I'm like I don't know if this shit for me what? I'm like I don't know if this shit for me what? because you know what let me tell you something but when I went there all of what I had been used to I was doing my own shows I was doing my own tours I was making my own content so this was the first time that I was put back into a position where I have a job yeah they telling me what time to be here they telling me what I'm gonna do who I'm gonna work with and it was getting adjusted to that and then you know it's a competitive space everybody everybody want to be on the show on the TV right you know I'm saying so you got the vets on the on the show and you coming in and they like shit y'all but man he ain't got to see him back home like when you yeah man that shit was real like boot camp like I can listen to me I call my mom right now I swear to god it was the first day of shooting we went through rehearsal and uh whatever joke I did didn't land in a rehearsal but it was nobody there it was just us the producers and the other comedians so and I'm in my head like man at least somebody should be here laughing so you know nobody laugh and my boy Bobby J he like yeah Nick I seen some flights man for 145 dollars we get him back yes he did and I went outside I called my mama I said I'm coming home and she was and I'm calling my mama you said I'm going home I'm going home what did she say she said she I know you're going home I'm going home I'm going home I know you fucking lying she said uh she wasn't hard on me she was like well what's wrong and I was telling I was like my just this ain't this is not for me this is not my style and she was like baby you work for this she said this is what you asked for right and she said something to me that I did now when I if I feel like I want to complain or if I feel like this ain't right she was like you living in the times that you pray for literally yeah she said so don't don't ask god for nothing that when he give it to you you ain't going to appreciate it I say it all the time I say it all the time you get caught up in what you thought it was supposed to feel like yeah yeah you get caught up in what you have seen other people's experience yeah equal yeah and you're looking at your situation like this don't know this ain't this don't feel like this ain't and it will play with your head yeah and that's how it was and my mom was like listen she said uh going back in there and she was like and figure it out and by the end of the and by the end of the the season I came in I think like second and rookie of the year voting right right yeah and uh you know when Nick Nick takes me on the side was like man he's like once you got your foot and he was like he's like I'm telling he's like you're gonna be a superstar so it was it was dope it was a dope experience and I learned so much from that and it was just one season but I learned I learned so much just about already what I believe in keep going right fight even even when it don't feel right even when it don't look right even when it ain't the results that that you feel like you should get you know I'm saying keep going I tell people that want to try to do content you know they put up a video or put up two videos and get 30 likes oh I'm done with this it ain't working that ain't you ain't gonna get a million views your first try no you know I'm saying so if I had to quit that day I would have never seen what opportunities God had for me tomorrow right that part so it's just I learned so much I learned so much it is wild to see what you're able to do with crowd work yeah where did that come from for you where did you know that that was okay I can make this a part of my show did you did you see other people winning that and you're like I can do that better yeah I think when I started going viral I went out on the tour you know I'm saying and I was the headliner so I had that I had maybe 30 minutes when I first went out so what I would do to get to at least a 45 or 50 I would do the 30 and then do the rest like talking to the crowd and through that I started to build material and I realized I say this is how I write I'm like an artist like you put the canvas up give me the paint and I'm just gonna put it together it's right there I'm not gonna think about it I'm just gonna paint whatever I'm feeling right just right in that moment so now it's just gotten to a point where I've always done it but it's become this thing that you know people like to see on the internet now and I'm gonna tell you something if I'd have had a cameraman if I could have afforded that years ago I would have been taping it and get me out of crowd work then but I just been able to afford to pay somebody and and and honestly a lot of those shows back then was I mean 40 50 60 people there you know I'm saying so now you know I'm walking into rooms you know 3,500 people at the Chicago theater you know has it ever because like when I say you're close to people on stage yeah has it ever occurred to you that maybe too close because like Luke have you seen it he will make a joke about something in the audience and I'm like oh they're getting a little tight yeah have you ever been worried about like how tight it might get where you at right now Chicago I ain't worried about a motherfucking come your ass up on that stage if you want to let me tell you something about people in Chicago we ain't gonna we ain't gonna start but we have finished the shit we have finished it but you know what man anybody ever tried it like at the at the end of the show they're like hey man I gotta I gotta play I gotta talk to you real quick no I don't even look like that type of dude where you gonna feel like that's gonna go how you wanted to go but man listen to me bro before I go out on stage I always pray and I always ask God to allow me to be funny but not to be funny and I always ask God to allow me to be funny but not to be funny offensive and I'll how you know how you know are you know who said I love you bad but what would you do that - I love her so much. Oh, I love her. - I ain't even gonna lie. I don't even know what's going on. - Why this nigga do a push-up? You trying to show out in front of my people. - Not in Chicago. - See, wait. - Now, hold on, though. Da girl, what you doing after this? - I love you bad. - I love you bad. - Wait, she turned her phone sideways. She said, "Oh, I gotta get all of this." Okay, listen, neighbors. Y'all know I'm on TV every single day, right? And if my hair is not together, y'all will let me know in the comments. And so, as a natural blonde, keeping my curls moisturized and well-defined is something I take pretty seriously. And when it comes to hair products, ingredients really, really matter to me. So when I looked at what is inside the Baskin-Lather Hydrating Hair Mist, I was sold. Some of my very favorite ingredients are right there at the top. You got aloe vera, which isn't just moisture. It's actually healing your hair from the inside out. You got avocado oil, or as we call it around here, guac oil, baby, for that deep moisture that creates that soft, clumpy curl. We're talking all natural, nothing unnecessary. And I've been using it, and my curls, yeah, they poppin'. Not gonna catch me slippin'. And Baskin-Lather is also, in fact, one of my favorite hair oils. It's also a black-owned, family-run business. Simple formulations that do what they say they're gonna do. Explore viral best sellers and products for healthier hair of all types from Baskin-Lather. Go to BaskinLatherCo.com and use code "Houseguest" for 20% off. That's 20% off at BaskinLatherCo.com. Code "Houseguest." - It's gotta feel good, though, to know that, like, the thing you set out to do is happening. - Yeah. - It's one of the greatest parts of your life. Parts of the commitment is when you start seeing the fruit of the day-to-day work. - I'm gonna tell y'all what just happened. So I was in New York last week, Wednesday and Thursday. I did a pop-up show, and Kevin Hart came to the show. Kevin Hart came to my show. And, you know, he saw the show, and he came back, and we talked for a minute. And I don't think he really even understood it. Like, when I told him, I was like, "Bro." And 2008 or '09, he did "Grown Little Man." And I was like, I remember being in college watching that. And that was the moment when I said, "I think I can do this." - Word. - And I followed Kevin and watched everything that, you know, that he done over his entire-- I done read his books. I done seen his movies. And I just always admired what he did and how he did it. Because it wasn't just about being funny for him. It was about how he took that and turned it into, you know, multiple different businesses to create, you know what I'm saying, generational wealth for his kids, his grandkids, and so forth. So to have someone like that that I've looked up to say, "You know what, I'ma come see you." Like, that was the moment where I was like, "Damn, okay." - Right. Well, now I'ma ask you a follow-up question. - Okay. - Did he like the show? - Yeah, he said it was great. - Okay. - He did give me, you know, he did give me the OG pointers, you know, 'cause he, you know. - Yeah. - He does. - He's laughing hard. - Yeah, he does. - He gotta tell you, you ain't shit a little bit. But no, he was really dope. No, he gave me some good, some good feedback. And even just some of the material, he was like, "I like this." He was like, you know, "Maybe you can go this way with it." Like, we had a really good conversation. And I think it's dope to see, 'cause a lot of times, we see these guys come up and they, you know, they get to this legendary status. We call them the GOAT. - Right. - And people say they don't reach back or they don't tap in with the younger generation. And I can't say that that's been my experience. Not from him. Not from Mike Epps. Not from Martin Lawrence. None of those guys. They always just kind of showed me a lot of love. - Is it true? - We gotta give it up for that. So, growing up in Indianapolis. - Okay. - Right? Come on, Naptown. Let's go. Let's go. Indian here, thick. - We got this. Wait a minute. - Indian here, thick. I know that's right. - They is some Gary. - Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. - They came from Gary, Indiana. - Over there hollering for no reason. - Gary is down the street. - Ha, ha, ha. - Growing up in Indiana, growing up in Indianapolis, Mike Epps is like hometown hero. - Oh, I know. I've been out there with him. Mike done took us to the hood. They treat Mike like the president out there, man. - The president. They got dishes at restaurants named after Mike Epps. - That's crazy. - I just think it is a wild time, I think, to be a creator, especially waking up black in this country right now. - Every day. - And to be able to be in charge of your day is a gift. And to be spending that time doing something constructive, something that builds up our community is so important. We were talking about it earlier with art and how you create music and the acting roles and things that you're taking on now. And how it stretches you. - Yeah. You just keep going for the challenges. But it's a blessing to just be able to do that. - Yeah, fully. - Yeah. - See who you are. - No, I agree with y'all a thousand percent. I'm happy I can wake up at 11 o'clock. - 12 if I want to. - 12. - You know. - You know, there's some days where I be like, you know what? I ain't gon' do shit. - That be my favorite day. - Ha, ha, ha, ha. - But I think it's important. - It's important, man. And my boy, Carlos Miller, told me this just last night. He was like, man, Mojo, no matter what you do, find at least one hour. He said, it's at least one hour in a day that's just for you. - Just yours. - He said, well, it ain't about nobody else. You ain't taking care of no you. That hour is your hour. And then you can tap back in or whatever you're doing. And when he said that, I thought about it. - That's great advice. - Yeah. Yeah, because if you don't, when you get into these spaces and these positions, there's a lot of people relying on you. So that phone is always, you're always going. You know, you try to get that hour to yourself, but you know, she didn't call, the auntie didn't call, she need her medicine. - Right. - Grandmother fell down the stairs. Sister can't pay the rent. You know what I'm saying? - Yeah, yeah. - I mean, that is shit for real. That's how it come in. Y'all think them bill collectors be calling y'all. No, man, but it's just, you know, but to be able, but that's also another blessing in it though, to be able to be in the space where, if your family or the people that's close to you need you. You able to show up and do that for them. - Yeah. - Flap it up for that. - Yeah. - Okay. Y'all ready to play a game? - I'm ready. - You ready to play a game? - Let's do it. - So this game is called Turnt Tables. - Give it a little volume on that. Give it a little volume on that. - Hey. - I ain't doing all that now, y'all. - You did. - You see? - Okay, so we've got some prompts here, some situations that come up in life. I'm gonna be on the red team. Y'all are gonna be the blue team. - Okay. - Okay. - So what you think? You that good where you don't get a partner? Why you don't pick nobody in the audience to be your partner? - Anybody wanna be a partner? - They losing their mind on the walkie. They're like, oh, this one, we're off script. We're off script. We're off script. - What the hell is Mojo doing? - Mojo! - Give it up one time. - This ain't. - Stop it. - All right, let me know. - Mm-hmm. - Mm-hmm. - Oh, boy. - You know I'm a clown. - I love it. - Okay. - She's a lady. - Tell us your name and where you're from. - Julie Graves, Fort Myers, Florida. - I know that's right. Okay, here we go. Florida? - By the way of Indianapolis. - Okay. I was like, you coming here from Florida? That's crazy. Okay, y'all draw the first one. - All right. - Yeah, yeah. - What is the best white pizza? - People, word or phrase. - Are we going dark or are we going light? Now, what we doing here? - No, we going white. We going white. - I was gonna say, I'm calling the police. Look at the white people over there like, we don't say that. This is one of my favorite things that white people say. - Mm. - And it sounds ridiculous. - Oh, shit. - But it also, it gets to the point. White people be like, newsflash, buddy. - They still, they still, they still not believing that. - Listen, if you get a, I hate to break it to you. - Oh, my God. - I hate to break it to you. - I hate to break it to you, pal. - Yeah. Followed by a newsflash, buddy. - Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. - Okay, okay, so that's we red team, that's blue team. Are you, I'm calling the police, or newsflash, buddy. - They going with the news. - Oh, we got some red. - We blue, so they going with the newsflash. - Oh, okay. - We got some red in there. - All right, watch this. - Okay, all right. - Y'all know, y'all still, he leaving. Don't forget who's from here. He gotta go home. I'll catch all y'all ass walking outside. I just want you to know. - I just want y'all to know. - Okay, here we go. - What is the biggest lie you believed as a kid? - Damn, damn. - What's the biggest lie? - Damn, biggest lie you believed as a kid? - Biggest lie. - My mama had superpowers. - She told you she had superpowers? - My mother had superpowers. She could see all, hear all, and she would jack you up. - That might be true. - That's true. - Is she a black mother? - Oh, yeah. - Yeah. - Okay, what you got? - So y'all going with her mama had superpowers. - Superpowers. - I'ma tell y'all right now. If y'all put them lights up for that. - This shit over with, I swear to God. - We cleared it all out. - Biggest lie. - Come on with it, doctor, come on with it. - Biggest lie I believed as a kid. - That I believed as a kid. - He got that. - That my mama was gonna give me the money out that birthday card. - Yeah, yeah, put 'em up. Put 'em up. - Wings up, wings up. - Whole room blue. - That's what I thought. - All right, wait. Mojo done booed the room. He was like, "Y'all better go blue. Y'all better go blue." - He was like, "Yeah, I'm blue." - I liked that y'all got y'all asses. I like that y'all got y'all asses. - I like that y'all got y'all asses. He was like, "Y'all better go blue." "Y'all better go blue." They was like, "Yeah." "But, dude." I like that y'all got y'all act together in here tonight. You ain't got far scared. So this one -- this one is for all of us. Okay. I want to see what you look like skipping. I just want to see if you can -- Can you skip? Let me see if that makes sense. Can you skip? No, just listen. Have y'all seen -- Have y'all seen? It's on social media. This went crazy. We haven't skipped since, like -- So I just want to see. There's a limit to my love. I just want to see. I ain't skipping shit. I recently just wrote a new joke. And in the joke, I got to skip. So I can skip. Okay. First -- But not -- I'm not skipping because that's what I be doing. So if I do it, put y'all phones down. Think everybody get you -- They might have it on me. Right. Let's go. Okay. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. No. Wait. Wait. No. Wait. Do you want to win or not? I want to win. Come on, Luke. Come on, Luke. Skip, man. Come on. Come on, Luke. I don't go crazy for that. That's weird. First step. You don't like that? I mean. No. Listen. No. Hell no. No. Hell. He skipped like a nigga trying to holler at you outside the gas station. Yeah. Hey. Hey. Hey. Let me talk to you for a second. Come on. I'll skip like I got the number. I got the number, dog. Listen. Listen. So the reason why we are doing this. I was getting my hair cut on the way out here. And we were talking about what questions we want to do. You didn't skip away, did you? No, I asked my barber. My barber is a 50-year-old man from Jamaica, Queens. Okay. He's like, skip. I was like, yeah. Can I see you skip? The first thing he did was this. He said, yeah. Nigga, I fell out. I was like, 50. Unc had a hip replacement. He can't skip no more. Unc. Okay, here we go. Here we go. Here we go. In West Philadelphia. Born and raised. Come on. Let's see here, Julie. Come on, let's see. What you got, Julie? What you got? In these boots. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Yeah. I see what you did. Yeah. I see. All right, wings up. Unc is drunk. Wings up. Red or blue? Blue. All right, all right, all right. Blue. Blue. No, that's blue. All right. All right, all right. I saw some reds. Okay, here we go. What is the greatest. You're cheating, because we were supposed to read that one. You did two in a row. Now you're going to skip again. You know, black people, we make our own rules up. Yeah. House rules. Hmm. Oh, okay. It says, what is the greatest love song ever written? Yep. You got to sing it. I got to sing it? You got to sing it. Let's see. What you got? What you got? All right, let's just say this first and foremost. Because we in Chicago. We in Chicago. Yep. There's a lot of great music out here in the world. Yep. R. Kelly. This sounds like a lot of. R. Kelly. R. Kelly. He said that. I didn't say that. Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. I know we. I know we. We got company, but y'all. Don't act like y'all ain't been playing that shit. I can only choose one. Okay. For right now. Yeah. Okay. But you know I got beaucoup of them in my body, right? I feel you. Come on now. I want to tease you. Do, do, do, do. I want to please you. I want to show you, baby. That I need you. I want your body. Your very last drop. I want you to holla. Come on. Say now. And who can love you like me? Nobody. Nobody. Not you got on the. Not you got the. Star Quest. Velour suit on, Sam. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Okay. I got one. I got one. You may not think about it. I got a love song first. Uh-oh. Uh-oh. No. You just got to. But then when you realize what she was singing about, this is deep love. She said. Y'all got to sing with me, though. Okay. Okay. How did you get here? I got a love song. Nobody's supposed to be here. I got a love song. I tried that love thing for the last time. My heart says. No, no. No. They got a whole other thing. All right. What you got? What you got? I got to have a song? Yeah. He said, I ruined that. You sing, motherfucker. All right. I feel like this outfit. Yeah. And I feel like this song is meant for me to go a little bit back in the day. Hey, take it there. Let him have it. What? Girl, you know I, I, I, I. No matter what you do. And I. Hope you understand me. Because every word I say is true. White people. Because I. Yeah. Baby. There we go. That's Bloom. There we go. That's Bloom. Hey, listen. Y'all are the real winners. Thank y'all so much for making this an incredible night. Thank you so much. Thank you. For one time, for Luke James. Thank you, buddy. For Mojo Brooks. Chicago, y'all have been incredible. I'll see you next time.