Michael Che: The Beauty and Chaos Behind SNL

We both were in a position where we took over a beloved white man spot. Yo, one of the only things that kept me going at the daily show was seeing the hate that you were getting. You eat pigs feet. And they in look like they just look like that. Travelling Noah. Like this. You know they know damn pigs feet, yeah, y'all fucking with me. For real, for real. We wouldn't lie to you. Would like a, like a fog in the night. No. Because the paint knuckle. I'm telling you, if you got somebody in your life, and they use the batty one and use your bathroom, and you got to be one of them. I'm in. She gon' feel like this guy's nice. Yeah? He knows how to take care of something delicate. Yeah? Yeah, man. Absolutely, brother. And she gon' look at you different. For real, for real. For real, for real. Listen, I don't have one book at my house. I got a total. They think I'm smart. We only had the car. There's an old Volkswagen Beetle Volkswagen, as the American say. I was gonna say, you said that, like, no other black man I've ever met. What'd you call it? Hulk Hulk? My brain never feels more alive than peering on a stage. There's nothing like, or killing it, bombing. This is What Now, with Travelling Noah. The most rock 'n' roll times I've had in comedy, like, on the road, have been with you. Really? That's not. I remember the first time I met this guy, it was like a rock star had just arrived. It was a big deal. We were in? We were in? We were in? Melbourne? Yeah. And I was doing good. Mm. I thought I was doing great until I found out what great was. And I remember being in the back of that. Some vineyards. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I was in the back. There was all these girls there. What? And I remember. I remember. Don't act like you don't know Trevor. No, he doesn't remember. I can. I. He remembers. I've brought these up to him about four times. I have put. I wish. You see? All these girls, all these beautiful girls standing in the back and I'm trying to talk to each and everyone and they were all in detail to me and then the lights went dark. The lights went dark. That motherfucker Trevor Noah got on that stage. Oh man, it was giving me that idea. They thought I was the bouncer. It was over. It was over. I was like, "Oh, look. Who is this guy?" And the road, the crowd, everybody was loud like, "Man, I got a lot to learn about." No, man. I miss. I was saying to you, Jean. I was like, "One of the greatest gifts and curses of success, especially at a moment in time." You know, you talk about the 30 guitars in one place. You do realize there was a moment where it was me, you, Hannibal Burris, Ronnie Chang, and I feel like I'm missing two or three other comedians. We were all just like in the same place, all at a festival, all like on a show case. And everyone was saying the same thing about the other comedian. They were like, "Yo, do you know Michael?" Yeah. Michael's going to be like, "Yo, do you know Hannibal?" Oh, Hannibal's going, "And it was, I didn't know anybody. They didn't know me. We didn't know, and we were all just comedians on the road performing for a month." You know how it is at festivals? I remember watching. I remember watching you and I was like, "How is this guy so clean? How is so comfortable?" Because you make comedy feel like Tai Chi. Yeah, I make it look easy. What? Does that make sense? No, I've never heard that before. Yeah, you make comedy feel like Tai Chi. Effortlessly. So like, I watch you on stage and I'm like, "Damn, this guy, oh, I don't know you could fight like that." Holy. I didn't know you could, you're just like, "I'm like a boxer. I'm like, I. " See, I think it's a different thing. I think it's like, "I feel the opposite of that. I feel frantic and nervous and I feel like I'm a ball of nerves." Yeah, but the way you perform, Jen, I'll never forget the first time I saw you. I'll never forget you. I'll never forget Hannah. Because it was, I'm always grateful for it because it's always cool to be part of a cool moment because that makes sense. Oh, yeah. It's always nice to be like, whatever festival we were at, whatever, there was. One was in Canada. I don't remember the people. My true. Yeah, we got. My true, that was a blast. Yo, we had. Michael was like, "Girl, where are we going after the show?" I was like, "I'm going to my hotel room." He's like, "Man, what bullshit. You just killed. You're going to. Who said they're going to a hotel room?" I was like, "I'm going to. " You know me. Michael was like, "Come on." No, I ran out. I ran out on Trevor a couple times. We was in New York a few times, but I ran into you a few times, a few clothes and stuff. The Trevor, don't let Trevor fool you. Don't let him die. Can I tell you this story? Don't let Trevor fool you. Trevor be outside, yo. No, actually. I'm never being so glad that you are here. Yes, let me. You're going to explode someone. Yo, let me tell you the greatest. This is one of my greatest Michael. You know what I'm saying, dude? This whole episode can just be Michael Chase stories that I've got, yo. One of my favorite Michael Chase stories. This is to show you how different we are in the world, right? So, Michael had. I'm trying to think, had you started it as. I'm not sure if you'd started it as a no or not, but I know you had already blown up on the Daily Show. Okay. And everyone was like, "So I'd known you from stand-up." You'd join the Daily Show and people were like, "There's this lightning bolts." Michael Chase, like, "Yeah, we know him from stand-up." I knew Michael. We had gone out in Montreal. We had too much fun. I was like, "This is. I know. Love this guy. Love this guy. Love this guy." Right? Because when I saw Michael, I was like, "Okay, I'm living my life." So, one night in New York. One night in New York. You go out with shit. We go out with friends. We go to the club. Now, this is something I have to work on. I work on this in therapy. But like, I. You know how I'm. I always treat myself the way I always was, not the way that I currently may be. Yeah. So, I'm in the club. In general population. Oh, man. Yeah. Then what happens is. The owner. It is general population. The owner of the club. Luckily, he didn't say it with the civilians. The owner of the club comes and goes, "Yo, do you guys want to come into the VIP section?" Whatever it was. So, I'm like. I mean, I get. I don't know, but I. Okay, I get. I'm new in New York. So, who's you guys? Me and a few random friends. I forget who it even was, right? Yes, yes. So, we go to the VIP section. But now, we're there for free. We have not paid for anything. We have no bottle service. We have none of the amenities of VIP. We're merely in VIP. Okay? This is by the way. This is like the best club in New York. Just one hope. This is like the bomb. This is like the spot. And at its peak. At its peak. Yeah, at its peak. This is like. While we're there, I start getting into it. I'm like, "Yo, this is nice. I see why people do VIP." Yeah, yeah. This is a nice feeling. Yeah, what's there? What's going on? What happens is the people who are in general pop, they now look at you. Also, they can see you. Yeah. Oh, yes. Except not a couch and just the best. So, people look at you. Look at it like business class? No, no, no, no, no, no. Stop it. (laughing) Wait, wait, wait. - Wait, wait, wait, wait, so, so the. - They got peanuts and everything. (all laughing) They got live TV. - So that's it, it's peanuts, I bet it's peanuts. It's just no, it's a bullshit. - It's gonna be a blanket, it's amazing. It's gonna blow your mind up. (all laughing) - So everyone's looking. - So everyone's like, I wanna join. I wanna be part of it. - Yeah. (all laughing) - So then. - Ah, fuck, Michael. I mean, I'm talking about like, we're like at our peak. - Yeah. (all laughing) - We're like, you know, you start feeling your stuff. The VIP starts getting into you, you know what I mean? Then somebody comes over and goes like, hey, these ladies would like to join your table and. I'm like, oh, were you asking us? Oh, please, please, of course, please join. Somebody comes stand there with, now, 'cause some people just wanna stand at the VIP table. This is a thing that happens. I didn't know this. - Stand there. - They just stand there. - People out of the, yeah. - I am in heaven, an hour goes by. - So about. - Yeah. - Just to put in perspective, this is around like 10 pm. - See, this is your problem. - Yes, this is. - First of all, you're there way too early. - That's what I was about to say. - All right, I think, maybe I ain't no way, wait, wait, wait. - Your VIP's out. - 'Cause that's a good one. - The next day. - The next day. - Who o'clock, like, in those days, I don't know what it is now. - So, we. - Ten o'clock, my men's like. - We late. - Yeah, we get there right around 10. I wanna say midnight, half past 12, just when I'm feeling myself, the owner or somebody, like the manager, actually, walks over, whispers something in our friend who works sort of with sort of, I just like a promoter guy who sort of, and he like whispers something to him. And then he comes to, you know what, if a person's face is like changed, you know? So they basically like, this with you, then someone goes, they do that thing. So they got like, you know, they say we gotta, we've gotta move. So I'm like, oh, what, more ladies are coming to, they're like, no, no, no, we have to move out of the VIP. You got rejected. I go, what do you mean we have to move out of the VIP? They go, yeah, somebody has purchased this table now. And so you guys have to leave. - Is that person in the room? - So I go, no, so I'm like, 'cause you could get revenge now. No, this is too tight. I'm like, purchase, I'm like, yeah, so I'm like, wait, but we bought some drinks. They're like, no, no, no, no, no, no. (laughing) They're like, you can take your drink. and you can go stand where you were, but the table is gone. So now pride obviously kicks in, so I'm like, wait, what if we wanna buy the table? How much is it for a table? And the person was like, oh, it's gonna be 10 grand for the table. - Ah, you then I was like, pick up measures, and you'll find me, and I leave. You know what comedy could have been more perfect when it's timing, as I'm leaving that section, all of me and my boys being ushered out. - Whatever to the girls. - Ah, no, no, they quickly saw all of that. - Yeah, yeah, they're part of the club. - Yeah, they know what they are. So they have no affinity to you whatsoever. They basically stop looking at us when this happened. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. (laughing) - They come with the club. (laughing) - And we walk out, and as we're walking out, the new owners of the table, the people who actually purchased it, are walking in. And it's Michael Chayle. - No, man. - Guys, I've never been so embarrassed, happy, confused. Excited all at the same time. 'Cause on the one hand, I was like, ah, man, Michael is kicking me off this table. On the other hand, I was like, it's my friend, Michael James. (laughing) I was like, my friend, Michael, taking my table. On the other hand, I was like, yo, I guess I have to move my friend, Michael Chayle. I was like, I don't know what club dynamics are. If we were in a comedy club, I'd be like, oh shit, Michael, can I hang with you? I was like, I don't know what the rules are. - What are the rules? - No, 'cause he also walked in with a crew of people. I just, I don't know the rules. - Oh yeah? - I don't know the rules. - Wait, so when he walked in, was he like, yo, Trevor? - No, no, no, no, I was safe. - No, no, no, no, no, no, you were very kind. - No, no, no. - He was very, he was dope. Wait, did he say, yo, Trevor, where are you going? - Yeah, when we were walking out, then he turned, then he's like, yo, he's like, yo, what are you doing? Then I was like, oh, we were at the, then he's like, why are you leaving? Then I was like, no, we're not leaving. We didn't pay for a table, and the table you just paid for is the table we were at. Then Michael just looked at me, and then he just had a chuckling. But like, he just started chuckling at me. - Well, because I knew it was like, literally, there's no reason that you should be in that position. - Again, like you said, you don't, you don't use all your superpowers. So you was kind of like being polite when you should have been like, I'm Trevor motherfucker now. - No, no, no, no, no. - And then Michael, Trevor's use of celebrity superpower is like the first hour of handcock. - [laughs] - I'm like, why are you drunk? Why are you keeping, go shave with. - Perfect. - Jesus, I'm a spectator. - Is that, all right now, is that a comedy thing, or is that just a. - Yeah, tell us more. - 'Cause I think a lot of comedians are very reluctant to be superstars. - To be superstars and to be celebrities. And I think the ones that aren't reluctant are usually not that good. But for the most part, I think, I mean, obviously there's a difference in me. - So, okay, I think part of it is the comedian. And this is something I've always loved about comedians is. - If you think of the best comedians in the world, the best comedy clubs in the world. The only thing that separates Dave Chappelle from a phenomenal comedian that nobody knows is the fact that people know Dave Chappelle. And when you see Dave Chappelle in a comedy club, the respect, no, but I'm saying the respect that he gives that comedian, nobody would think he would give that comedian that level of respect. - You're right. You're a fan out over a comedian as if they're Dave in a way where you go like, what is happening right now? - Yeah, bonkers. - You get what I'm saying, like Louis CK would do it. You name it. Kevin Hart would do it. It doesn't matter how big a comedian is. If they're with another comedian in the club, they're with comedians in the club. They'll look at you and they'll go, man, I just watched, yo, that shit was way from what you're. - It's weird. Blind, that tag, that moment, it's this weird thing in comedy where your status isn't only defined by how well we know you, because we know that you're one moment away from being the most well known. - Yeah. That moment can be anytime. - Anytime. - Yeah, and it's weird how much, like even like as comedians, because like if we play basketball, the amount of years we'd have to play basketball to play with LeBron or to play with, you know, Jack or whoever is like 20, 30 years, you know, like maybe by the time you get to that level. But in comedy, we're all playing the same clubs and we're all in the same cities and we're all kind of running into each other. So you could be two, three, four years in and be amongst your hero, the guy's 30, 40 years in comedy, the greats and they could watch your set and they could learn something from it or they could take something from it or they could compliment you for it and you're like, I can't believe you're even paying attention to me. You should be in enough. It'd be like if Stevie Wonder just dropped into some small bar and was like, oh, you know, an amazing singer. You're like, what? You know, it's the craziest thing ever. - Do you remember the first time that happens to you? There's got to be, there's, I feel like every comedian has that moment or they remember a few instances. - I've had a few moments where I thought like great comedians didn't like me. And then not to be messy, it's not messy because I realized that they did, it just, I just didn't know. Like sometimes I think like, I'm sure you know, but sometimes like you could be doing comedy and people be like, oh man, you're good or I like you shit or whatever. And also you could be doing comedy and like the room gets a little silent and you're like, what I do. - Yeah, yeah. - Does everybody hate me? They hate you, but they don't hate you. It might even be thinking about you, but you feel it. You feel something and you're like, I don't, I guess they don't like me. But you know, after, after, you know, it's like dogs in a dog park, you know, you sniff around each other or you, you know, it's a little bit of a, it's that kind of thing. It's just like trying to get familiar, trying to understand what's going on because you could have hype. Like I would have like hype or you know, you know, hype, right? So like, there'll be times where it seems like, you know, this guy real, oh, that, that's a really funny. You really want to see your skeptical. The first thing you think is your skeptical. And then, and then after a while, and you're like, okay, I do like, I, yeah, I like you. And then it's, and then it's warm, but it, it starts off cold, it can. You never felt that way. - No, I think you 100% correct. That part I acknowledge, there's a, there's a skepticism, there's a, there's a, there's a suspicion, there's like a, and it's, yeah, I don't know what it is, but, but your point comedians will generally go, who? - Yeah. - Really? How come I've never heard of him? Where's this person from? Where did they come up from? What's their story? What's their vibe? What's their, but what I have found is very, very quick. Like I told you, like Joe Opieu, our friend, this guy was fresh from Uganda. And the first time I saw this human being, I didn't know him. I saw him, he was giving Louis CK tags at the comedy seller, and Louis was listening. That's what blew my mind. So I was going, I don't know who this person is, I know Louis CK, and Louis was listening, and he was there, like, ah, Louis, can I give you a tag? Oh, so that joke that you, and I was like, what is happening? Louis was like, oh, yeah, that's funny, man, oh, that, that's a nice idea. And I was like, who is this person? But I was more surprised that Louis wasn't like going like, who, who are you? - Louis is sort of an anomaly in that way. I remember being at SNL, and only reason why I'm telling this. I don't like telling like SNL stories, because I'll explain later, but I've heard him tell this story. That's why I feel comfortable enough to say it, but he was hosting SNL for like maybe the third or fourth time, and I was maybe a second year writer. And I remember, his monologue was too long, the part in the front, you know, like this is the end of part. It was about 12 minutes, and Lauren wondered about eight minutes or something. And Louis, you know, Louis Louis, he's at the height of his powers. He's like, ah, this is bullet proof, like I've, you know, done this, like at dress rehearsal, we have a meeting where we have to like figure out time for the show. And Lauren's like, we got to get that to eight minutes, and he's like, what if I don't want to? And he's like, well, then I'll realize you're not professional or some, some cold lord shit. Like so, Michael Chase is going to go with you in your dressing room and listen to it again, and just, you know, figure out where the cuts are sitting there like, I don't do what? So I had to go in Louis, CK's dressing room and listen to his set out with the cuts and find out where the cuts, me, I'm going to tell Louis, I think, I don't think you need that show. But he was, I think he realized how awkward of a space that was for me. Okay, great. Right, right, right. And he was like, he was cool about it, he was like asking me legitimately as a friend because he could have been like, get the fuck out of my dress for you. Yeah, like, and I would have been like, I totally understand, I feel the same way. You figure it out on your own, Mr. Genius, but no, I'll never forget that. He was cool enough to be like, what do you think about this? So maybe I don't need that, like he was, he was a pro, like he handled it great. And I always been thankful about that because he could have made that real awkward for me. So that's what I think the great comedians do. Yeah. And I mean, so here's what I mean, right? Because comedy is not a learned profession in a, like you don't go to school for it. Nobody has a PhD in comedy, no, no, yeah, but I've heard, I've seen some university have like a do I've never seen a comedian come out of the program. What they have programs? Sure. You can go study comedy. Sure. But I've never seen anybody come out of those programs. Yeah. Wow. So that's a hard day to teach. That's like, it's like learning porn. That's like a hard day. I studied by major in porn. Because the theory is one thing and understanding it is another thing. But it's like, yeah, there's the small every, I feel like every discipline has that where it relies on a little bit of creativity and unpredictability. So basketball has it. Like, you can learn how to play basketball, but Iverson does a thing where you're like, what is that? Yes. And then Kyrie Irving does a thing where you're like, well, what is that though? That is, is that correct? I don't even know what that is. Comedy has that. Music has that. This, right? I think I think a lot of it is because it's so much realized on your ears and eyes. It's really hard to teach someone how to listen and how to see. So like on stage, like, there's three shows going on usually, about two or three shows going on. There's the show that you're doing. And then there's kind of the show you're watching. Is that show that you're sort of like, all right, what am I going to hit them with? Okay, how would they respond to this? You know, it's almost like a whole other boy. You're talking. Sometimes I'm on autopilot for like five minutes, just trying to reassess how I'm going to land this last 20 minutes of the show, trying to figure it out. And you can't, it's really hard to teach that. You kind of got to have almost a six cents for it, you know, it's a, it's a field thing. It's hard to tell someone how to do that. Like you, like, the basketball players you're mentioning, I always feel like the guys that talented are never make great coaches. Because it's hard for Al Nivecen to teach you how to be Al Nivecen. But somebody that's like, like a gritty scrappy white guard, you know, that knows all the fundamentals and all of those guys are great coaches. Because they'll tell you exactly how to break it down into like steps. They know exactly how to do that. But the athletic guys, like, how do you teach Kobe to be Kobe? It's impossible. Before I forget, I want to know like, what you were going to say. So why you, you were about to tell us why you don't like telling stories from SNL? Because SNL is such a vulnerable place for everybody. Like for us, we work there. We're there all the time. We're comfortable. And like people would ask, like, who's the worst and who's the best. And I'm like, it's really not fair to say who's, to judge somebody based on their time there. Because they're there for a week. It's scary. It's fast. There's no other show like it. So there's no way to prepare for it. So unless you just do it all the time. Right. Okay. So if somebody, if a star, if you, if you're hosting SNL and you don't trust the, the, the table read, you don't think it's funny. Oh, damn. Okay. You don't trust the rehearsals and the run-throughs and like, you don't know the process. So why would you trust? Especially if you don't do comedy at all. But also if you do comedy, it's even worse. Actually, it's even worse if you do comedy because you know how to make people laugh. Yeah. You know you're a type of finder. So if somebody's showing you something, like, trust me, it's going to work and you don't find it funny. But you got to do it live on television. You're like, you're going to make me look stupid because they're like, I'm not funny now. Now, if it actually doesn't matter. If you're acting, you're like, oh, whatever. I just trust whoever's funny. But if you're a Louis CK, if you're a Trevor, know if you're, if you're a, a, a big comedy star and you're trusted, you're trusting these scripts. I'm never scared of that way. Yeah. So like a lot of times people are, they're, they have a rough goal, but it's not because they're bad people. It's just because it's a scary, you know, situation. So you're basically going, I want to protect their experience in the institution because I understand that it's not as simple as, yeah, okay. Exactly. So it is a lot of people that after the show, they're like, man, thank you so much. Or man, that was, that was crazy. That was because you guys do this every week. Like they're shocked by what the process is. It's not a natural process, but you see it enough that you're like, I can't judge you for being a dick that Thursday. I would, I would be sleepy, you'd sleep deprived. You know what I mean? Like, you're like, I, you don't know, like I get it. What's the process? What does it look like during the weekend? Two Saturday. So Monday, you meet the cast and the rest of from a host perspective. For Monday, you're meeting all these people, you're meeting all of the writers, you're meeting law and you're meeting everybody. You know, they're kind of showing you around Tuesday. Everybody pitches you ideas. Everybody's like telling me what they're actually working on. And then you go to dinner with a couple of cast members and Lauren Wednesday is our table read. It's about it's like a seven eight hour day where we're just reading like 40 sketches and some bad ones, some great ones, whatever. But that's when we pick the show. From picking the show Wednesday, Thursday, we're rewriting and we're we're rehearsing it and blocking it. Friday, you're doing free tapes, usually a daytime pre tape and a nighttime pre tape. And then in the middle of the day, you're doing more blocking. So those are the sketches that we'll see that maybe we'll be like a music video or just the ones that are commercial firey. Yeah, yeah. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Move your trailers on that kind of thing, like the actual videos. Those happen on Friday. Those happen on Fridays. And then Saturday, now mind you, you might your last pre tape might be four or the morning, three or the morning, two or the morning. This goes very late. By 11, 12 o'clock, you're doing another rehearsal, a run through rehearsal, which is like fully dressed, then address rehearsal and then the live show. So the blitzkrieg of that we is like, you're going to be frantic. Yeah. And it's like getting planning. I always say like, it feels like we're planning someone else's wedding every time because this is a very special day for them. But we're coming back. But for them, this is their moment. It's their wedding means everything. That's a great analogy, actually. I like trying to make it as special as possible for them and as comfortable and, you know, this could be a beautiful woman normally. You would know. But during because it's her wedding. She's what they call them, Zilla's God. Oh yeah, bright Zilla. Yeah, bright Zilla. They're not bad people. They just want this to work. And I could kind of understand the stress of that. So that's why I don't like to shoot on people when they're shitty. I don't need you to shit on anyone. But I this is, you know, something I'm always going back and forth on like, who's listening to us and not and what's connected to where and how algorithm literally yesterday. This has never been on my feed. This has never come up. I don't understand why this prop on my YouTube video of you. Telling of Kanye. Telling of Kanye. Did that come on my feed as well. Yo, literally today for some reason it's been coming up a lot lately. I don't know. I don't know. We didn't even speak about this. No, we didn't. You see, I didn't know that you saw it as well. Well, that's that's another thing. I see like that video. I don't know who taped that. I don't know where that came from. I never talked about it. Nobody ever mentioned it. And in all of a sudden, it's just everywhere. I'm like, well, I would never said done that stuff on a camera. I didn't. Yeah, but that's what it felt that to me, you didn't see someone was filming. No, I didn't. I've never seen anything for a blind side of my personnel. Yeah. And then I went back and watched like a documentary on that moment. Or like, I saw clips. I was like, what is happening? But that moment, I was like, damn, Michael Chey. Like, this is, this is behind, this is the shit that you want to handle behind the scenes. And then all of a sudden, it is in front of this. Yeah, but how does it come out like seven years? Yeah. Why is it out now? No clue. I mean, you have no no clue where, who what? I have no people were telling me about it. That's how I found out about it. But I will say, the other part of that that I don't think is in that because I've never watched the documentary. It just feels, it just felt like a really kind of shitty thing to just put out that way. But I mean, I feel like if you're taping people at work, you should get some kind of consent form. Right? You just take me in my raw stage. Damn. But I will say, though, the next time I saw him, it was funny because, I was really funny. It was funny because I really didn't like Kanye after that. I really didn't like, I was like done with that guy. And I remember there was a, there was like a mass shooting date in Ohio. And I was at Dave's house. He was doing a charity show and he had like Stevie Wonder. He had all these people that he was bringing Kanye. And he was like, I'm picking up Kanye from the airport. I want you to, he goes, I want you to come with me to pick him up. We're going to bury the hatch with this Kanye thing. You know how Dave is. Yeah, I know. That's Dave. We're going to bury hatch it. And I was like, he called me a slave. And he was like, I see you when I get back. I see you when I get back. I can never forgive that guy. I can't be a fucking slave. But anyway, long story short, he did the Sunday service day. It was amazing. I mean, he's Kanye for a reason. And Eddie Murphy hosted us now. And everybody was like literally, well, you know, I don't even know, but everybody, remember that black panther from me went to everybody. It was like that. It was like that. Everybody was everybody black and Hollywood was there in New York at the time. And Kanye was there. And I was working, I was working a lot on that. Eddie Murphy shows like a stressful show. And I was kind of, it was like probably like one of my first head writer episodes. So I was like, what a first episode. - Yeah, it was like a lot going on. - Yeah, pressure. And I seen Kanye in a hallway and he was walking with, you know, Kim and some big orange rush. He's coming out of the elevators and he sees me from across. We've seen each other like at the same time. I'm holding like two different scripts and he was like, "I'm sorry." And I was like, "What?" And he came over and said, "Man, I owe you an apology, man. I was tripping." Like he literally genuinely came up to me and said, "I'm sorry." And I was like, "It's all good, brother. Don't worry about it." And that was that. And I was like, "I can't be mad at somebody that apologizes and acknowledges." After that, more things have happened. More things have happened, I'm sure he owes a lot more apologies now. But for that specific thing, to me, it was just like, as Kanye, as somebody that's Kanye, and as somebody that has that much going on in their mind and that much creativity and that much power and money and effort to even take the time to apologize to anybody. Because if he did apologize, I'm still going to do my job. Like he doesn't have to apologize. So to me, that meant a lot just in his humanity. Sometimes you could just see that humanity, no matter who you are, if you can't say sorry in a certain situation, then you're really losing the plot. Yeah, for me with him, and I don't say this trying to diagnose him, I know he's spoken of a bipolar and manic depression and all of those things. He always reminded me of my grandfather. Interesting. Like that was 100% my grandfather's. Did he make amazing. Oh my god. Amazing sneakers. Oh man, for comedians would be the death of me, bro. So for my grandfather, literally when he was diagnosed with his bipolar, he'd have a red pill and a blue pill and he would have to choose one. No, man, you're lying man. No, it's 100%. And this is like before the Matrix, not even like that's literally what they prescribed. You have a red pill and a blue pill and they were each in two different bottles. And so if he woke up like manic, blue pill and then if he woke up like super depressed, red pill and it would get him to normal. So we had like those types of experiences with him all the time. So even when Kanye would be like, I kept saying to people, I was like, one, I don't understand why we all talk about mental health and society, but then when somebody's showing us the effects of a mental health issue, we're not now respond because everyone would be like, mental health, mental health and then I'm like, yeah, but here's somebody who has said himself and I'm going as well like, yeah, I agree he does have a mental health issue. Why aren't we. Why are we giving him more mics? Why are we. Like someone's having a breakdown. Why are you putting a mic in their mouth? Why are you. I think. Break down. Why are you amplifying the breakdown, you know? For celebrity, it's different, you know, I think a lot of times, I mean, we could talk about this for hours of mental health thing in particular. Maybe I'm cynical, but I do believe people don't like to have honest conversations about mental health because then you have to start forgiving a lot of people you don't want to forgive. And you have to start forgiving a lot of things that you want to hold on to, that you feel wronged and that. That thing, sometimes just not liking somebody, it's enough, if you've personalized it so much, even if it's not a personal attack, but like you've internalized it and personalized it so much that you don't want to give that up. You don't want to forgive Kanye for, or anybody, I don't want to keep using him, but like, you don't want to forgive people for having these episodes and what they said that hurt you because then that means you don't have the ammo for your cause, you know, whatever that may be. Yeah, but I think also people with mental health issues, with forgiving people with mental health issues, the slippery slope sometimes, if it's an artist, if it's someone that you love, someone that you care about in your family, you're like, yeah, but if it's a world here that started a war and then they come out and say, but I also, yeah, yeah, I had mental issues, man, you know, when I started that war in 1954, yeah, it wasn't me. It was, if I had medication, I probably wouldn't have done it. So we start thinking, are we going to forgive? If we're going to forgive one person that we like and love and revered because they bring us art, would we forgive someone who's a villain in history as well? Well, my thing is, if there's, when there's, when people ask for forgiveness, so when there's like a, this usually like a time I was going, I was having these episodes and when they're not having these episodes, I don't think that time is used smartly without naming names of anybody. I do think there are times, if you've had these sort of episodes where you have said really hurtful things or done some hurtful things or whatever, when it's, when you're better, maybe you should be at the forefront of educating people on what went wrong with you so that we could understand and we can forgive and we could figure out, okay, the next time this happened, if you're, if you're, yeah, yeah, yeah, how do we, if you're aware wolf, I understand what you did when the moon is out, but when the sun is out, you got some explaining that's how I feel sometimes, I feel like sometimes when the sun's out, they're like, what are you talking about? I don't remember nothing like, yeah, but we do, yeah, we remember what happened. So I think, you know, if you want people to continue to support you, you want people to have sympathy for you, when the sun's out, you need to start explaining, okay, here's exactly what happened, here's how I feel and I appreciate you guys sticking with me through this because these guys are having these episodes and I'm not, I don't know what, I can't, I can't know what that's like because I don't have those conditions, I could imagine that it's, it's really, really difficult. It's, it's crazy because the way I understand it is, and again, I'm only using my grandfather's experience, but I know other people who have similar things, it's, it is like Bruce Banner and the Hulk. You wake up going, what did I do? Wait, nah, that's not possible. One of my, it was really one of my favorite stories because knowing it hurts or anything, my grandfather, at the time, it's like 80 something years old or whatever, he takes my mom's car, we only had the car. There's an old Volkswagen Beetle Volkswagen as is American say. I was gonna say, you said that like no other black man I've ever met. What you call it, a Hulk? (laughter) I just thought that was really good. It's a Volkswagen. Yeah, it's a Volkswagen. It's a Volkswagen. It's a Volkswagen. It's a Volkswagen. Yeah, the Volkswagen. Yeah, it is. It's the car of the people. Yeah, the Hulk. Yeah, it's the car of the people. The Hulk. That's what it means. I did not know that. Yeah, it's the car. It was meant to be there like answer to like the Model T type in its time. It was like how do we make a car that everyone can drive that's super cheap, that's really efficient. What made it special was it also wasn't liquid cooled. It was oil cooled. So it was also good on the battlefield. So you didn't, because when you're driving through like a desert, yeah, but it also just meant like in terms of maintenance was easier anyway, I mean, yeah, that's yeah, I mean now we have to like pause. Yeah. Thanks Eugene. Yeah. So, um, you're like sponsors. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So this is the independent. I'm. It was out. Guys, come on, man. So. So my. So my grandfather. My mom would ask him to help with errands, you know, and the house and everything. So during the week. So my grandfather wakes up when he. And he. Manic. Full on manic. And when he's manic, he's like, he called me master. So he'd be like, "Master. Master, let me tell you something. Master." Oh, it was a race thing. So he was like, to me, like he was like, to me, your wife. But only when he was manic, when he was normal, he was like, no, you're my grandson. When he was manic, he was like, he called me master. It's tough. Crazy, crazy time. So he was like, "Master. Let me tell you something, Master." You know, so he grabs the car. My mom's like, you know, we need some bread and milk. So he said to my mom, I was like, "Don't tell me what to do. You cannot tell me what I'm doing." And it was like, we just need bread and milk, man. Just get some bread and milk. So he goes, he's like, gonna go to the shops. Drives. This is in the morning. Send him to the store like that. Man. You know what it is. But you know what it's like. I don't. No, no, no. Come on. Come on, Master. Come on. We're not Michael. We should done. Michael. Michael. Michael. We should done. Okay. We should done. Your personality is not determining your ability to do or not do something. Michael, let me tell you something. I don't know what I was like in the hood here. Yeah. But where we're from, your disposition does not determine whether or not you're going to participate. Fair enough. Fair enough. We're like, yo, we know you're crazy. Go do some shit. Fair enough. I see a lot of crazy people in the supermarket. There you go. Somebody sent them. So we're like, yeah, somebody sent them. Put on your bath, bro. Get them milk. I got you. I got you. Yeah. You talking to yourself? Talk with this list in the grocery store. Remind yourself what to buy. Let's go. Let's keep it moving. Put an earpiece in. You want to take me on a phone and leave me fine. So my grandfather goes. Drives out. This is. 738 AM. 738 AM. We need this for breakfast. Yeah. He drives off. Takes you with. No. He's gone by himself. Our goes by. Doesn't come back. Now we got to leave school. We're everything. Yeah. So my mom, but she's working from home in that sense. So anyway, it goes. I come back from school. My mom is flustered. Like, what's wrong? She's like, your grandfather didn't come back. Like, what? Guys, the shop is like a five minute drive away. It's like, yeah, he didn't come back. You know, I should. And she's like, I shouldn't have said I knew as manic, but I thought it wasn't there. Anyway, he's gone. There's no cell phones. There's none of these things. He's just gone. We get a phone call on the house phone at like eight, nine pm at night. Yo, is this the Noah resident? He mums like, yeah, oh, we have a man here. Temperance, do you know what I'm saying? Yeah, that's my father's like, oh, we found him. Now to give you perspective in terms of like distance, if we lived in New York, we're getting this call from like, let me think, maybe like the other side of Connecticut, maybe even like, yeah, no, I'm Albany's a little too far. How many hours is Albany? Albany hours? I was like four hours, maybe? Yeah. No, we got to call from like a two hour away kind of place. Yeah, yeah. We're like, what do you mean, man? They're like, yo, this man is here. We found him on the side of the road with this car and he had run out of gas. And yeah, and then he was just like sitting there like just, yeah, just and we're like, yo, where are you from? And then he like slowly started speaking again. And he's like, okay, here's a phone number you can call whatever. And then we were like, can you help Will come and we went and picked him up? And then he's just there. And now, you guys went, it's tough, but it's funny though as well, because he wasn't hurt. Nothing was so we go there. We have to like catch taxis to go and get him. And not taxis like cool taxis like in New York, like buses essentially. We take a few buses to get to this place. We finally get there. We pick him up and then the whole way. Now he's just sitting in the car like this, 'cause you have crashes, that's how it works. And this is the thing that always like got me with Kanye is like I was like, people take for granted how in those episodes, one of the only things that helps you is rock bottom. You have to lose everything. You have to crash out, you have to run out of gas on the side of the road. And then what happens is the episodes subsides. But if you have $50 million, and less amount of gas in the car, you're gonna drive forever. You're not gonna stop. And it's this, that's what I mean. So it's this thing. So literally we're driving back now and he's in the car. And then he's like, he's like a little boy and he's like, and he's like, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Trevor. I'm like, no, it's fine, great, and then Mom was like, it's not fine. The whole day, and then the story was what happened was he drove to the store, got to the store by the bread and milk. Got the bread and milk. On the way back, he saw a beautiful woman at a bus stop. Like a 30-year-old type woman pulls over at the bus stop, leans out the window, says to her. He's like, he goes, how can a beautiful woman like you be waiting for a bus? A beautiful woman should never be waiting for anything. Then he's like, where are you going? She's like, I'll tell you where I'm going. He's like, let me take you there. And 'cause he's like a hundred years old. He's not a threat to anything. She gets in the car with him. He drives her to where she's going, which is like an hour and a half away, gets then drops her off, then he's there. Then he's just like, where else are the beautiful women? Yeah, like drives around that whole neighborhood drives, then runs out of gas, and then just sits in the car until his episode faded. And then we're there in the car. And then mom, your mom was furious. She's like, yes, right now. Yes, we're like that. She's like, you know, you don't like my, I work hard and now just, and remember the gas. That's the main thing for my mom. Like you've finished the tank of gas. We can't afford that. And on a beetle, that's very hard to do. Mom and my mom is just like, yo, you know what, you've done what, what, what, what, what? She's like, what do you have to say, what do you have to say? And then he's like, she was so beautiful. I'm sorry. She's like, he was so beautiful. Yeah, bruh. And I'm there too. And I was like, this is the funniest shit ever. I swear. No, it was. That's not gonna hurt. It was funny. Yeah, but that explains why we never have rock and roll moments with each other. You think I'm traumatizing? Yeah. No, dude, I just, I don't know. I think you know, you know, okay, you know what it is for me. He has, he has what gets me sometimes in the world. And I think part of it comes from my comedy brain. I think you, you'll understand this. And so will you. I find most comedians, most comedians, especially good comedians, have the ability to spot reality versus what people say reality is. Yeah. And those incongruencies often throw us off so much that we're like, I can't ignore that. Man, I want to let this go, but these two things do not make sense in the same world, right? So in this whole world of it is like, I think what happens to me with the Kanye, with the whole thing was it just felt like I would go, we live in a society where everyone talks about rehabilitation, knowing incarceration. Let's get people, we don't want people in prisons. We want them rehabilitated. We want to figure this thing. But when it actually happens, the thing everyone is saying is put them in jail, send them away, lock them up. Don't let them come. Then I'm like, yo, but what? It seems like you want rehabilitation in a theoretical sense. But when you actually know a perpetrator, you're like, no, no, not them. Yeah, yeah. Then I'm like, okay, but then who? Where do we start the journey? And again, I'm not saying no accountability, because people say, what about a kind of, no, I'm not saying no accountability. But I would just like us to practice the rehabilitation that we want on the theoretical side when there's an actual example for us. So can pets like dogs have mental health issues? I don't know, I'm not an expert in this. This is out of my field now. Because I've seen when dogs turn on people and then, I don't know if they were like, yeah, yeah, yeah. Because the people that own the dogs are usually like, he's never like this. Yes, that's true. Yeah, he's never, we don't know what happened. He's never like this at the time. Another two hours being malled there or another human being. Because, you know, this is your favorite, who? Singer. Oh, who is that? Yes, that story was crazy. But did you see that story? No, I didn't know this. Like apparently he's dog bit his housekeeper or something. His dog bit is housekeeper. Yeah. I was like, damn, Chris Brown is just like, she's just happening in his world, man. Man, it's hard to be a singer named Brown. [LAUGHTER] I was so good. And then, and then, so the news, the thing I read, but again, confirmed enough, you know, you have to take everything of the grain of salt. But basically, they're saying, I think they ruled. She sued him and they ruled that she was supposed to get $12 million for it. For bit, bit my dog. It was a big dog and mental things and whatever. You know how you're going to go to America? That was a big dog. That's what it's a big dog. Then a judge ruled. Apparently, the New England came out and a judge said, yo, this is $12 million. Yeah. A judge came out and said, this is exorbitant. This is crazy. Yeah. You can't do that. It should be like $9 million. [LAUGHTER] $9 million. I'm going to check this to confirm, but I'm pretty sure. Oh, my God. Yeah, but here's my thing. If anything, over $10,000 is absurd. No, no, no, no, you more than that. Come on. I think you're more than that. Dog bites have been bit by dog. Yeah, but there's like dog bites and there's dog bites. Oh. Like if your dog bites me and you're worth like hundreds of millions, it hurts a lot. [LAUGHTER] But also, does it depend on the type of dog that bit you-- No, man. Oh, no, no, no. This just came out. Wow, there are TMZs on top of it, man. Chris Brown's former housekeeper accepts reduced $9.5 million per out in dog bites. $25 million. It was $12.9 million. Yes, so what I'm saying is if there's two issues here for me. Yes. So she's a housekeeper. She's at the house a lot keeping the house. Yeah, sure. So it means that dogs are the dog and her know each other. Absolutely. Because it wasn't a new dog. I'm assuming it wasn't, yeah. So this is not a regular house. What do you mean? I mean, that could be a dog that's like not in her wing. That's true. I'm sure she don't got like one housekeeper, you know? Like she might do the guest bedrooms and the bathrooms and then the dog being in the dog mansion. Yeah, but the fact that the owner of the house is-- owner of the dog is comfortable with the dog and the housekeeper. And I guess the dog's also like, you know, here's the thing with the dog. He's like, if a dog gets like surprised, it can do-- it's just like the breed of dog has a different-- The dog bites you playing. Yeah, but I'm saying like a small dog can bite you like that and it won't change your life. That's what a big dog can bite you. That's what my second point was. So depending on the size, so if the bite was from a two-hour or a poodle, then you've got a tougher case. If the dog didn't swallow nothing, you should-- [LAUGHTER] If she got everything the dog bit, she still got the stuff. [LAUGHTER] Maybe let's check. What was the breed of dog? No, the breed, and what was the damage on the lady? I think most of them are giving-- If you have been-- Most psychological? Four-mouse keeper, dog bite case. Reduced, take a new trail, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. $12.9 million. The judge felt there was insufficient evidence of nerve damage on other issues. OK, you don't know our amount or what. Everything is still there. OK, so if I give you two million dollars for dog by hour to leg, give me the leg. Wait, so usually when dogs attack humans, they put the dogs down. Is this true everywhere? Usually, I mean, if it's $10 million, yeah. Yeah, they have to put the dog down. They have to put the dog down. Don't dog advocate say that that's not fit to the dog? Yeah, because they should put the owner down. Damn, you know, I don't know if that's what they say, but-- Yeah, your conclusion means it. You keep right there with the thing. There's a mission we all got. There's a judge of character here. The dog owner or the dog? I don't know. What are you saying that we should kill all of them? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, you got any pets? No. You don't like pets? Michael, here's my thing. If you pick a dangerous breed, you know that this breed is dangerous, dangerous, dangerous. You even know when-- you know, a breed is dangerous when you're walking it. It looks like it's walking you. Then you say, I'll take my chances of. restaurants and the dog park with a dangerous breed. Then whose fault is it when the breed behaves like what it should behave like? Who should be put down then? Now, but apparently like they say was horrific. It was horrific. Yeah, wait. So in that case, he has you're a judge. Yeah. He has a dangerous heart while a dripping of blood from the from the leg of and they said like the pictures were gruesome. That's what I mean. Yes. So he has a dollar. No, he has a dog. He has you the owner of the dog who knew what the dog was capable of. Yeah. Right? Sure. So who's guilty of behaving out of character here? The person. So who should we put down? Put down? I don't know how you're getting to put down. Why should he be put down? He's like, who are we killing? Who are we killing? Right. But like, why are we putting this man down because it's dark? Who are we killing made a mistake? Made a mistake. Yeah. Guys, animals don't make mistakes. They don't? No. Okay. Animals are animals. You know, when an animal doesn't behave like that breed that it is, it's just helping you become more of an animal. Because it's like, no, I don't know. You don't understand where I'm coming from. At all. Because we're not just not saying the dog is saying that. It's saying, so I'm not going to I'm not going to fight the hand that feeds me. I'm not going to make you look like a fool. So I'm just going to do it. Then one day the dog is like, but I am a dogman. Then I'm going to behave like myself. Then the dog does what I think was like horses when horses buck the rider. Yes. That's true. That can't happen. Yeah. You're like, what happened here? The horse is like, no, I don't want anyone on my back. I was having a bad day. Yeah. So just be a moment. Something hurts. Just a moment in time. So when animals behave like we want them to behave. Like human have decency. People like to strangers touching their chins and petting their heads. We're like, yeah, come on, man. Don't be rough on people. Then the dog one day goes today's the day. Enough is enough. I'm going to be the dog that I am invites a person. Whose fault is that? No. See, I think it's a different thing. I think it's like a, it's like a control, like a self-control thing. Like a dog is trying to control a lot of his instincts and impulses based on what we tell them is okay and not okay. Right? Who are we to say like, oh, we, we, we, we, we, we, we own the dog. So like you said, all right. So like if we don't have the talent that we should be responsible for when if you, if we don't own the dogs and they just my, our friends and I bring my buddy to the bar. He bites somebody. I gotta be, I gotta go to jail too. Yeah, you gotta put down. Don't go anywhere because we got more what now after this. That's why I'm hopeful for my mdani. I am too. I'm genuinely. He seems like of all the mayors, the, of all the people we've had, he seems like the one that sort of looks at New York from the lens of New Yorkers. And, and it's, it's refreshing. I think that's what people really, really like about. Yeah. Is that he's like everything that he wants to bring to the city is something that I believe he would enjoy about the city. You know, and it's, it's sort of like, I don't think we've had anybody like that. It's like the theater of yours is pulled by artists. Oh, yeah. Yeah, that's exactly the kind of thing. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, that's the first thing you said that made sense today. No way. No, no, no. I mean, that is a, I mean, that is a problem. Crazy as hell. In Peru, a lot of the dogs there. They just roam in the street. Oh, yeah, I love those. There's a lot of countries where there's a lot of countries where nobody owns dogs. Yeah, the dogs just live there. And they're chicken sometimes. No, it used to be like that in America. I haven't seen a stray dog in like, I don't know how long like, like 20 years. I think now they put them in shows. There used to be stray dogs all the time. You guys had that? I never knew you had that. I never seen them. No, I didn't know that. I assumed it was just never a thing in this country. No, it definitely was a thing. I remember being a kid and you see a stray dog and you get chased or something. You grew up here, right? I grew up in Lowryside, man. Yeah. And then I moved to Jersey City when I was a kid and I moved back to Manhattan. I've been back before. I've seen New York. New York is like, yeah, I got to love affair. It feels like this is home. It's ruined traveling for me. Wait, why? Because after like a week or two, I'm like, I gotta get back. Nothing compares. Nothing. Nothing. Do you hate non-New Yorkers? Not like hate, but I mean like when you, they make the city the city. It's always been like, I don't know why a lot of people always complain about transplants and gentrification. Like, has been happening to my entire life. Bad places getting nicer. Yeah. Also, when you from New York, I'm from, you know, we're from like public houses. We're from, you know, I don't know money. So like I remember how dangerous New York was and seeing certain elements of New York, seeing certain parts of New York nicer and more fit for families. Yeah. I get the corporate shit and the gentrification and pricing people out sucks. I wish that there was a middle ground of affordable safety. It feels like we have to sacrifice one for the other too much in this country where if a place is nice, now nobody could afford to live here. But if we don't make it nice, then it's dangerous and, you know, all the places that poor people have to live, you have to worry about cuttings and muggings and nothing for the kids. And, you know, so it's, it's, we need to figure that out. And hopefully, it's there. I think about the time. Hopefully, it's there. Yeah, that's by design. Oh, definitely. If I look at it, particularly in America, but in most places in the world, people on protected, capital is protected. Right. Right. So money gets protected, no matter where it is. Right. So when, when money is somewhere, police go, I have to respond to that because not even the police man, I'm saying police, the idea, because the police chief is connected to a superintendent, connected to a, who is connected to that money. And that person goes, yo, your mayor, I'm the person who helped your mayor get. So I'll call your mayor and tell him that you guys are making, my capital is burning down. You guys better do something about it. So there's a different incentive structure. For sure. That, that just happens in that, in that way. And when you get that far up, it's not even about, you're not even looking at people, you're just looking at numbers. No, you're not looking at stats. Yeah. 100%. And, and a lot of times poor people are the brunt of those stats, you know. That's why I'm hopeful for Mamdani. I am too. I genuinely, he seems like of all the mayors, the, of all the people we've had. He seems like the one that sort of looks at New York from the lens of New Yorkers. I think that's what people really, really like about it. Yeah. Is that he's like, everything that he wants to bring to the city is something that I believe he would enjoy about the city. It's like the theater of yours. It's built by artists. Oh, yeah. Yeah. That's exactly the same kind of thing. Yeah. Also coming to the first thing he said that they said today. No way. No, no, no, no. I mean, that I'm, I mean, that is a problem. Crazy as hell. You know, it's interesting. So like, my brother, I got two brothers that that was retired NYPD, right? Wow. Ain't that something older brothers. I'm older brothers. Yeah. I'm the youngest. And I remember my brothers telling me about how he was having an argument. I won't say which brother to protect his reputation in his apartment. But I remember one of my brothers telling me he was like, he was having an argument with this, uh, this white guy. That's also a cop. And, um, it's not an argument, but just like a debate, right? Okay. Yeah. He did debate. And he was like, I just don't understand the white guy was saying, I just don't understand why like, you know, we go to the hood and these kids, we, why don't they just stay off the corners? Like why? They know we're coming. You know, they know what we're trying to do. What we have to do? Why are they just always hanging out on the corners? And what is the point? Like why we moved them? They just end up on another corner. Yeah. And my brother's like, where are they going to go? Yeah. To their backyard, to the, you know, like you don't know, go home. You don't know what's in that home. You don't know what situation, what living conditions they have. You don't know how many people's in there. You don't know. I'm not saying that every situation is that, but you don't know. And he knows that because of the way we grew up. And when we grew up, you know, it was a crowded house. There was seven kids and, and, you know, cousins and three bedroom apartment apartments crowded. You have to be outside. That's where you go. And when he said, that kind of didn't even realize it. I was like, yeah, I remember you said, just hang out at the Bo Dega. And they would chase a thousand Bo Dega and they would just go to another Bo Dega. Or whatever it is. But it's like, we didn't, that's where we went. Like there was spas or shops. Yeah. Where would they go? You know, so it's like, I think that there's, there's a difference. I say all I have to say, I think there's a difference between these are two cops working in New York City. One's from the city. One's just policing the city. And I think we've had a lot of mayors that look at it the way that guy is like, why don't you just do this? And then my brownie kind of feels like a mayor that understands why this kid is hanging out on the corner. So how can we put something healthy for him to do that? Let's put lights on the tennis court. Let's - Let's do something. That gives them a place to go and serves both needs so that this is a dope New York for even that kid, not just the people who have a lot of money and resources and access to pay for safety. You should have to pay for fucking safety in this country. I mean, as much money as they take from us. I mean, Trevor, I know. - This guy. - I know. Every about December, January, you looking at that truck, you got a right. And you're like, you got to be fucking kidding me. - For what? - Oh man. - No, Trevor. It's the worst day. It's the worst day. - You know, the funniest thing about it is I always say, I don't understand why people don't selfishly want neighborhoods to get better. Completely self, completely selfishly. - Completely selfishly. - So they're like, why should my tax dollars go to paying for some kids in Harlem to have a this or have, then I'm like, I'll tell you why, just selfishly. Forget even acknowledging them as human beings and what they should or shouldn't have. Forget that you don't want them on the corner. You don't want them running through the street. You don't, so just selfishly. Just selfishly provide amenities that change how people, you don't be like, oh, those kids are up to no good. There is no kid that is up to no good. Most kids are just up to the thing that they're afforded. That's it. - Literally, you're just trying to do what you do. - You just do what you do. - And they don't, but that's the thing. They don't see us as kids. - Oh shit, that's true as well. - Yeah, I haven't been a kid since I was maybe 11, 10 years old. - You know what I'm saying? We, we threats. - Your potential threat. - Well, the first time I was handcuffed, I was maybe 10. - For real? - First. - Never forget, we first moved to Jersey City. I never forget that we moved to Jersey City. I had a video game, it was like a Sega Genesis. - Oh yeah, I remember those. - And we went to go, you know, I didn't have that many video games expensive. So we would rent the video games from the video store. - Blockbuster used to do that. - Blockbuster, this one was called Palmer Video. It was like a smaller chain and we was walking. We had to walk to the video store in Jersey City. We just moved there maybe like six months. And the cops rolled up on us, asked us for ID. We didn't know what the fuck I did. - 10. - What I did? No identification. Who's your parents? Handcuffed us on the floor, asked us who we are. And I never forget when they unhandcuffed us and let us go in our way. The cops, never forget them. His name was Robocop. He said, that's not Robocop. He was like a notorious dickhead. - Right. - Oh, so he was his nickname. - It was his nickname, Robocop. And anybody listening to this in Jersey City, it was Robocop. - It's like that in the movie. - Yeah. - But Robocop has you walking away. - As a walking away, he said, "Welcome to the neighborhood." 'Cause we told him we just moved there from New York. He'd never seen us before. He was just him getting to know us. I never forget that. But that's my point. And the weird thing is, we didn't go home and say, you're not gonna believe this mom or the, we thought that's just what's supposed to happen. They're supposed to be a little threatened by us. I guess, like that's, yeah, I guess, I guess we thugs. You don't know whatever it is as a kid. You don't know, you think you're grown. You don't know that you're a kid until you see a kid. Like, I remember like what we used to do in the city and like being like 30 and then you see like, little kids playing around in the train. You're like, what are you doing now? And he's like, "Oh, I used to do that." And they don't know that they kids, they just, 'cause the world doesn't look at them like kids. So, I mean, I think that's kind of why they don't take care of us like they take care of kids, you know? Because they don't see us as that. They don't see that this could happen. Even the most liberal, the most liberal of white people when something happens to like a black kid, they're like, "Man, I have friends." That could have happened to any of my son's friends. (laughs) You know, they don't ever say that could have happened to me. - I can't. - Yeah, yeah. - When that could have happened to my kid. They don't, look, they know it can't happen to them in that way. - It's an externalized idea of what a kid could be at the, yeah, yeah, but I know what you mean. It's not a, - No, yeah. It's not, no, this affects me. - How did you get into comedy? - 'Cause like brother cop, brother cop, Michael Chey comedian. - I think it was something that's like a fantasy as a kid, like when you're watching comedians, watching Karlin, watching Chris Rock, watching, you know, Bill Cosby, Eddie Murphy, she like that. - I understand. - You. (laughs) Clay, may he rest? - Don't worry, bro. (laughs) - When that distance occurred. - It's okay. (laughs) - Watching those goddamn wins was my God. - Man. - I love damning wins to this day, man. And I think like, you know, my family was like a big comedy house. Like they love, we watch Hollywood Shuffle, we watch it live in color, we watch. I'm gonna get you sucker, Eddie Murphy raw. Like everything that was comedy, we watched it. himself. Yeah, so I think like that power, my grandfather's the pastor. Okay. So like, you know, that sort of holding court, you know, family gatherings, everybody just snapping and going at it. And the people that would have funny ones were kind of the special ones. They're like, oh, wait, don't you roll them, go wait. Don't go make your way to, you know, it's all these people that I was like super super super for my brother was really funny. And, um, you know, I had one of those families that we would just snap all night. And so there was sort of a currency. I think like, when you don't have a lot of money, something else is going to become your currency. You know, it's going to be it has to be it could be funny. It could be sports. Some families of sports families. Some families are just food, food, whatever it is, you know, some barbecue families are like that. Like that was our currency was who was the funniest. Who could really get you? Who could make my grandmother laugh the hardest? So like that was kind of always held a special place. And I think when I started to see HBO specials at Chris Rock and Carlin like those guys, and I started to see it kind of put together, you know, in a smart way. I was like, oh, you could like kind of say what you think, you know, like your frustrations for real. It doesn't have to just be deaf jam. It could be, you know, kind of pointed. And, and, you know, being in school, you're sort of like the smart ally in the class clown and always asking questions and trying to challenge a teacher of real shitty kid things. But it was making my brain sharp, you know. And I had a reputation for it. And I have buddies that was like, man, you should you should do it. And I never thought I could do it because I didn't know anybody that had done what you're doing it. Yeah, so it's like where do you even start? I didn't know anybody in show business. And then one day, I was just kind of like in between really bad jobs. And what were you doing? What was your first job? My first job, I worked at a car dealership. I was like doing what? Wait, doing what? Wait, doing what? It was like reception work, kind of. I was like the guy calling in the checks. Okay, no, that's not bad. Okay, it was, it was like $10 an hour. Okay, no, no, okay. I didn't have a license, so I couldn't, I couldn't sell cars. That's like most New Yorkers don't have a license. Yeah, I have a license. So I couldn't, I couldn't sell cars in your license. You know, you can't even do your driving test in Manhattan. What do you mean? No, how are you going to do that? You never see no drivers driving. What do you have to do it? You can't do your driving test in Manhattan, bro. No, man. Yo, the rules of driving do not apply to this island. It's different. You can't, you can't teach a person. You can't even check if a person knows how to drive here. Yeah, because yeah, it's like everywhere else, the rules are when a person is in the road, you can't enter the crosswalk and you can't turn when a person is in the crosswalk and you got to wait for the light to do this and fucking spots on this and you can't use your horn except if it's an emergency and you check your blind spot and following distance speed harms, everything that is taught to you in Manhattan does not exist. So when you take your test, you got to go to one of the other boroughs and then they'll take you to places where you can drive and that's where you learn how to drive. Then they're like, all right, go good luck in Manhattan. Yeah, you can't, you can't, you can't. You love the drove here? Is it insurance more expensive living in Manhattan? I don't know, but I, but you never driven you just can't drive. You know, you're not, it's not, it's literally like being a taxi driver in a taxi rink in South Africa, like way, everyone, everything all the time. Yeah, you go in the last round. South Africa fucked up too, because I was an Egypt and they would. Oh, Egypt. Yeah, Cairo. Yeah, they don't care. Yeah, Cairo's fire. The buses don't even stop. They just jump off and jump off. Yeah, no, no, Cairo was crazy. Yeah, Cairo's doing it. Yeah, they're crazy. Cairo's crazy. Yeah, that's the crazy side of the scene. What made Cairo crazy for me was the fact that it was also fast paced as well. So I've been to places that have crazy traffic, but it doesn't really move. Cairo, okay, there's crazy traffic and then the traffic moves together and high speed. And you're like, yo, guys, this is, I'm cutting, I'm turning, you're like, I don't know, driving here. Yeah, I don't know. I'm driven in New York. And when I first came to New York, man, I'll never forget. So you don't drive the kind of cars you want to drive in New York, though. I don't know. I don't have any cars now. But when I was in, no, really, let me tell you what happened. It's about the fuck it's full of shit. My man, which car do I have now? It doesn't. Yeah, really? So let me tell you what happened. All right. First got to New York. I had my cars in South Africa. No, I had my cars in South Africa. Okay. And then I was like, get to New York. And everyone's like, you don't drive in New York. You don't drive it. I was like, you don't drive in New York. That was it. Then Jerry Seinfeld invites me to do comedians and cars. He's driving. He's like, do you like cars? I actually do love cars. We start talking about cars. So I was like, where do you have all your cars? He's like, oh, so I have them. I've got the special house building elevator type thing. He goes, but I go driving. And he tells me about these roads. He's like, you should take cars and go drive there. So then what I did was I started renting cars to go and drive out in the cat's, not cat skills. Those adjacent, like the bare mountain and those places. And then. The place called bare mountain. Yeah. Where I did. New York is a beautiful state. Yeah. You got to leave. You love it. Just block. I wish I had a rocking. You kind of leave his block, man. I don't like it. We can't keep seeing you on the corner. You jean. Come on, man. You got to go to another corner. I go to a different door. I ain't read. Man. So yeah, so I was I was driving and then you rent a car and then you go rent a car and then I'd go out there and drive a few things that got me one. It takes like an hour just to leave Manhattan, to go to the place. That was too much for me. And then secondly, the place where I'd rent the car was in Manhattan and driving in Manhattan. So the first thing I rented when I got here because of the sign felt is like, I should do this. Lamborghini. And then I was like, I'm going to drive through Times Square with my Lamborghini. Never before have I felt you know, in most parts of the world, Lamborghini plus person equals ultimate levels of. Yeah. No. Come to New York, drive a Lamborghini or Ferrari or anything inside Manhattan Times Square. People look at you like you wore a tank top on a rainy day, yeah, yeah, everyone looks at you like, what are you? What are you? What are you tracing? What are you doing all the time? Get back there. Exactly. It's Tracy. That's an absolute question. Did you see what I remember when Tracy's car got hit by an Uber? No. Tracy got hit by like a like a small little Nissan run around type thing. Yo, Tracy, they hit Tracy is just bought the Bugatti. He drove out of the dealership. I think it was a second Bugatti drove out of the dealership. And then some random mover driver just like, bam, hit Tracy Morgan in his in his Bugatti. I remember when Tracy first came home from like the accident like from the hospital and we first seen him. And it was like rumours like Tracy's back. Tracy's back. We didn't know if he was okay or not like okay. He was or whatever. It was just so thankful that he was alive like him and already. Yeah. Yeah. And I remember we were at the seller and you know, we were just talking like man, oh Tracy's okay. You know like man. So happy. Everybody's like kind of like happy, but worried. Yeah. And I remember it was coming down the coming down the stairs and olive tree and a white van on Rose Royce driving and it's Tracy hanging out the window going, I can't spin this much money. I used to bump into him all the time because the Bugatti place is a block away from the daily show. Yeah. And so I'd bump into him when he's like servicing his car or buying another car or you know what I mean. Yeah. And Tracy's that like I'll be walking out and you just bump into a Tracy more in traffic in a Bugatti rolling down the window because I'm looking in the college. Damn it. This is a Bugatti. Smooth criminal or something. That would be him. And then he just like lean out the window and just shout random things that we're taking like two, three seconds to realize who it was. And then he'd be like, how are you going to be walking when that Bugatti's in the dealership? I'm like, yeah, Tracy, come on. Tracy, bro. My sister was at a next game and she, I was like, how's the game? And she was like, I saw Tracy. He told me to tell you that he got you. Don't worry. And I was like, what is he talking about? I know. I'm like, well, I don't know. I'm talking about him. He got you. I got you. I told my God. Oh, yeah. What? No, man. I love that for him. I was just like, he's just like a bowl of comedy a bowl. One of my favorite Tracy Morgan stories ever, it was Angelo Lozada told me this. May he rest in peace, man. Angelo. And apparently they won. They won. Yeah, we lost a lot of guys. Yeah, we did, man. We did. And Angelo said me this story. Tracy was with his crew in the car while they on the road touring. And one of one of these guys that's opening, but he's like his dude, he's dude, you know? It's not like he looks down on him. They're all in the car together. And this guy had his comedy joke book, but like his life, you know how it is. If a comedian has that book, that's their life. Every joke, every idea, every, in that little book. And they're sitting in the car and he's there and he's be doing his thing. And Tracy's like, he's like, yo, man, he's like, what are you doing over there? And he's like, man, Tracy, come on, man, you know, I'm writing some stuff for tonight. And then Tracy's like, let me see that. And he takes the book, opens the window, throws it out. And then you know, this guy, apparently, he was like, yo, what the fuck on the highway? He's like, yo, what the fuck am I? And then Tracy's like, man, if you funny, that's your gonna come from me. You man, you can't be writing that shit down. He's like, yo, yo, let me tell you something. If you funny, that shit got a guy, yo, they said that guy almost cried. That's all him. Oh my god. And Tracy was probably, you know what, this guy wants to kill him and Tracy's like a oblivious to the whole thing. And he's just like, man, if you funny, that shit got come from inside, you be like, that's Tracy. Oh, that's great. That's great. I heard Chris Rock used to do that. Somebody told me that he, uh, what an SNL writer's used to always work at the, you used to also work at the Chris Rock show. Yeah. And back then, they used to write on type writers, like they have to write scripts out, you know? And he said, Chris was like walking to the office, see like a sketch or whatever, like on that desk. Nice sketch, nigga, throw it out the window. Man, I love, he's in stories like, please, he's like, what the fuck? Stories like this. I love, I love stories like this because I feel, I don't know, I feel like there was a moment in comedy where, I mean, I obviously say this knowing that times are good, but like, there was a moment in comedy where it feels like comedy wasn't as big, comedy wasn't as popular, comedy didn't have as much money. And so comedy was crazy. Yeah. Like sometimes when I see us as comedians, now I go, I think sometimes we take ourselves way too seriously. We got real. Yeah. But we also take ourselves too seriously. Yeah. Like I see comedians now, I have to remind myself all the time, I go like, yo, do not forget you're a loser, you got bullied, you're an idiot, you're a clown, you're stupid, you're not cool, you, I have to remind myself of that because now comedy has like ascended in a way that like, now comedians are rock star, now you walk out on stage. Now there's like a, it's like, no, but don't forget what this thing like is and was. Yeah. Yeah, you might be beloved and cool, but just don't forget that side of it. We started believing the adjectives, you know, like a lot of times, I do think there was a time when they started writing about comedy. That's what I mean. And the most romantic way. And now we're, now we all think we're brilliant and genius and, and all of this shit and we're not. We're just funny at best. Like the best, best case scenarios were funny. It feels like comedy is going through our chefs went through. Yes, yeah, yeah, actually, yes, it was about cooking delicious food that people like. Yeah. And that's true. That's true. Then it became like a, yeah, cook, it's not about the food. I don't know why. It's a question of like the army too, like what the fuck? What the, the chef's thing. Yeah. Yes, chef. Like, I don't know what is that. I don't know. I don't know what it is. They're not Marines, all of a sudden. Every time I went to a cooking show, it's some pride. I don't know why. I don't know why. You know, we had, we had a, we had a, we had a, on the show. As my kind. We had, as my kind on the show. She's one of the funniest. Yeah. Like amazing chefs, you've ever come across. She's a restaurant in, in London. And Asma's, she's like, she said it so succinctly in beauty. I was like, we also have questions like, what do you think that is? And she's like, she's like, Trevor, can I tell you something? She's like, I just think that's white men trying to make the job look harder than it actually is. She's like, because for generations, women and women of color have been doing what they're doing now without any fuss. Without shouting. She's like, without, we don't need to shout. We don't need to, to pump somebody's face into a wall. We don't, she's like, Trevor. That's hilarious. But they have to, because they're like, I have to show you how hard it is. Yeah. What is that? She's like, yeah, bro. That's just performance. She's much more performance. That's crazy. She's like, yeah. Why are they crying? She said it's a bunch of white guys who are trying to make it like, you know how this is? And she's like, your women have been doing this calm down. Yeah. My mother did it. She's my mother, yeah. I ain't going to lie. While cooking. Oh, she's, yeah. Get out of this kitchen. Yeah. Wow. Were you allowed in the kitchen when your mom was going? Yeah, yeah. Or really? That's our quality time. Oh, that's why you can cook. You can cook? Well. Nice. Yeah. You gene cooked for me. And I'll be honest with you. to process what was happening. - Really? - No, can I tell you why? - Well, like, will you cook, like anything? - Really? - I didn't notice that it was happening. - No, I could cook it if you like, - Sam in and Fettuccine. - No. (laughing) - He picked the most white girl thing called up. - No, no, no, no, no, no. - Not for real. - Black girls could be Sam in. - No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. And he cooked and I was like, I didn't know how to, I didn't know what was happening. And he cooked my favorite thing. - Really? - He just surprised me one day. When we're in Johannesburg and we just, he just surprised me. It's pig feet. That is the appropriate response, by the way. - That's a perfect response. - Is that, I don't know if he was making fun of me. - No, no. (laughing) - I don't know if he was a pig feet. - For real pig feet? - Yeah, like the trusses of a pig. That's born-on across every culture. I love pig feet. - Szechuanese pig feet. South African pig feet. - It's not that. - Curry pig feet. He'll die, he can't eat that. He can't eat that. - It's too much. - It's a sensory overload for him. - Oh, a sensory overload. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's just like, yeah, yeah. - He grew up with McDonald's. - Pig feet? - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - Newy pig feet. - And they, in the, like, they still look like that. - Travel Noah. (laughing) - Like this. - You know he, no damn pig feet, yeah. Y'all fucking with me. - For real, for real. - We wouldn't lie to you. - We'd like a, like a fork in a life. - No. - Bare hands. - Bare knuckle, for real. - Because the bare knuckle. (laughing) (laughing) - I don't believe. - No, you got, you, you can't. - I don't believe. - Because it's like in a stew, like a jar. - No, so generally, generally it's in a stew, the one I like, but there's also a brazed version. - Yeah. - That's cooked over a flame. I'll take you one day, we'll go in here. - You won't. (laughing) (laughing) - You for real? - I'm for real. - No, you never. - No. - But that's what I'm saying. - What do you say? - Do you like, like, chitlins, too? - So I don't think chitlins have as much flavor as they could. We do eat chitlins where we're from. But I think-- - Where are you from for real? - No, in South Africa, we eat, like, but we call, like, it's out. We have a different thing, malamuhur. - Try it. - Yeah, try it. So it's like the intestines of an animal. - I see intestines of an Chinese restaurant. Is that the same thing as? - Yes, yeah, yeah. With this version, 'cause chitlins will be like certain parts, everyone has a different idea. Like what, what they'll include of the insides of an animal. - Yeah. - But I think I've had chitlins everywhere in Atlanta. Everyone's like, you got to have chitlins, love the texture and the vibe. I just think you can see that there were no Indians involved is what I'm saying. - There's no spice and flavor. - Yeah. - No, you just need a little one. - Why don't you say that? Because I didn't know how bland American food, not bland, but, like, we don't-- I've always been afraid of Indian food because, like, it's just culturally, I think it's just very different from American food. - Americans are afraid of American food. - Yes. - When I introduced-- - That's true. - Indian food into the daily shows routine. So the daily show would have, like, normal catering every day. And then there'd be one day you remember a week where they would, like, get food from a place. - That's right. - And generally, they would get, like, an Italian sandwich, like, pastrami and wawa, and they'd get-- But it would be, like, food from a place. And after, like, a bunch of rotations, one week, I was like, "Yo, why do we always get, like, those, like, big sandwiches?" - Yeah. And they were like, "Oh, we love it." I was like, "Wait, but we can get from anywhere." And they're like, "Yeah." And I was like, "But you get from there." And they're like, "Yeah." And they said, "Wow, what would you want to get?" I said, "We should do Indian food one week." And that week, the amount of complaints and, like-- - No, man. - No, but, like, people were really like, "Yeah, no, we can't do this." - For real? - So that Indian foods on that we can't, we can't, we can't. Then, so we ordered, we had to order, like, a second meal for the people who weren't gonna do the Indian food. But then, everyone ate the Indian food, and then people came up to me and they're like, "Oh, I didn't know that this is what Indian food was like." - No, I mean, I was scared of it, I was scared of it. I don't know what it is, it's 'cause, like, it's like a, I don't know, I think a lot of times too, like, a lot of Indian food, like, it looks, it's like a lot of stewed shit, you know? So a lot of times you see it, and you're like, I don't know, I can't. - Sounds multiplied to me. - I can't identify anything, you know what I mean? Like, I don't-- - Is it a potato, is it local? - No, it's local. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's brown, but it's sweat, yellow, you're like, I don't know what's going on there. - And it's like, yeah, yeah, yeah, like, what is this? So it's like, it's just so unlike I can't burn it. - I can't burn it, I can't burn it. - So when I tried it, it was, my mind was blown, 'cause, you know, you started to think, well, damn, how much have I been just missing out? Yeah, and then especially, like, African food, or like, Caribbean food. - Now, Caribbean is maybe the best because it's African meats Indian. - Yeah, see, but I could see the lineage, just what I'm trying to say. So like, when you start to like, okay, so I think about like, soul food. - Yes. - And I think of, okay, what's the West Indian version of that? Or what's like the Nigerian version of whatever it is? Then you're like, oh, I start to see that, this is just our version of that with what we had here. - Exactly. But it took me years to know that, but as a kid, I was like, no, sir. That's a mistake, you know, chicken nuggets. It was like real, real bland stuff. It was a, there's an Indian spot that I think is like hacked to people, I guess that really, really like Indian food, but like, that's their place in Jim Connor. - Oh yeah, yeah. - And London, it's one of my favorite restaurants. I go there all the, every time I'm in London, I go there and I don't know, maybe y'all know some should better, but you do. - As you smile, also, but I wanted to show, no. I wanted to show you how funny die-jeeling express. - But Jim Connor is my favorite spot. - And just like next time you go there, I'll tell you, but I'll tell you next time you go. I wanted to show you, like, no, Jim Connor's there. It's up there. London has some of the best Indian food in the world. - I've heard that. - Yeah. - I've heard that, but I'm letting you pass everything. I'm late. This is all within like the last seven years. - You have, you have become a, even in the time I've known you, I've watched you go from being a very insular person to like slowly like exploring outside of your comfort zone. - Because Badez was another one. - Badez, a y'all. - You need to leave the block, no. (laughing) - Some wise man gave me that advice. Never look back. - You don't get it. - I deserve it. I deserve that. - Man, I feel so stupid. Wipe my ass without water. So I've wasted so many years. (laughing) I've spent so many years on the scratchy booty. (laughing) - Brett loves Badez. - Yo, I got a Badez. I won't, I won't do that. - Dude, I've never used a Badez. - What? Brett was trying to convince me to use a Badez. - Oh, my friends. - There's new plumbing here. - This is why you're angry. - Yo, yo, yo, yo. (laughing) - This is why you're angry. (laughing) - Can I try to separate my hand from my ass? - Let me tell you something, bro. Badez, and the technology, not just Badez, go Japanese Badez. - What's the difference? - Let me ask you a question. - Yes, yes. - You got a little poop on your hand, and I gave you a piece of tissue to clean it off. What would you say? (laughing) - Just me right there. - Would you say that that's sufficient for the day? - No, obviously not. - Okay. - No, now why would it be? Why would you not introduce water? - I'm gonna not see poop in my hand. - Yeah, wow. - You see, my thing, my, ah, fuck. - Oh, come on. - You know, you got poop in me, where are your body? And I gave you a piece of tissue to clean it. Would that be sufficient? - Okay, but Michael, I would need, - Oh, man. - On your back. (laughing) - I would need water and soap, right? So here's my thing. Do Badez, get out the hose. - No, you need a hose, it's literally-- - A hose. - A hole. - But no soap. - You don't need a soap. - And then how do I dry my ass after the shower? - So now, remember when I told you about Japanese Badez? - Remember this. - Allow me to introduce you to the toe, toe. - That's right. - You see what he's introducing to you to? - Oh, you got it. - No, you need it. - No, no, no, this matters, trust me. - My friend. - You don't change your life. - Change your life, brother. - Someone's blowing air up your ass. - Yeah. - My friend. - Drives you. - Oh, yeah, you bugging. - My friend. - Wait, wait, wait, wait. - Sometimes, like, you definitely-- - I don't even got a poop. I just, just, just go for a sprint. (laughing) - I go for a nice little sprint. - I read a book. - I salute. - I salute. - I salute. - Baby, I salute. - Yo, you gotta, you gotta, man. - Oh, my friend. - Oh, dude. You gotta, man. - Oh, my friend. - Yeah, you're missing out on that. - That's what's your problem. - Wait, so I could see it. - So it hits, so soon, so soon, so soon, so soon. - And do whatever you, it's the same one. - Yeah, and then it dries. - And then you're out of there. - Yeah, girlfriend. - And then, so it sprays your ass. And then you're out of there. - Yeah, girlfriend? - Get to the balls. - That doesn't have only. - Do you date? Do you go on dates? - I like dates. - You like dates? - Yeah, the fruit. (laughing) - I'm telling you, if you got somebody in your life and they use the bad, they wanna use your bathroom and you got your one of them, I'm in. - She gonna be like, this guy's nice. - Yeah? - He knows how to take care of something delicate. - Yeah. - Yeah, man. Absolutely, brother. - Yeah, she gonna look at you different. - Listen, I don't have one book in my house. I got a total, they think I'm smart. (laughing) - I'm telling you, I'm telling you. Change your life. - Oh man, change your life, man. - Oh man. (laughing) - Beautiful. - No, it's okay. We'll. - Okay, okay, okay, no together though. But I didn't know we grew up so similar little. - Yeah. - See, I honestly thought, I don't know why, but I honestly thought like, oh man. See, I always think, I just, I maybe it's like a grass greener type thing. Like, I thought you had like, you had a set up there. - No. - I ain't no. - No, we, that's one of the things that I always felt, sometimes it'd be in a sad way, but in a beautiful way as well, it was like the one thing that connected me to black people all over the world was I was like, we'll sound different because of our accents, we'll like, but I can talk to a guy who grew up in Brazil in the favelas and I can tell him stories from South Africa in the hood and he'll be like, wait, we did that. And then I'll talk to a black person in New York and I'll, they'll be like, we did that. And then I'll talk to, and I'll talk to, it's this fast, it's what you said about the soul food. Everyone took the culture and whatever they had and it was molded by the place they were in, but you can bring all the threads back and you can connect all the moments, the same thing, everyone will have a different word for it, but the barbeque, the bribe, that wherever people are cooking meat and then people are roasting each other and it's informal and the grandmother's cooking and the kids are all in the street and you can't be in the house, you gotta be outside, but then you better get back in the house at the right time. And you know what I mean, it's like, well, and you're playing and it's like a, you gotta watch out for the cause at the right time and all of this shared includes is a universal experience. - It's deep 'cause like, I feel like as black Americans, just recently, one of the cool things about like the past 10, 15 years is seeing black Americans connect with Africans, connect with black people in other countries. - Right. - Because we thought a whole other thing, you know what I mean? And I think I was liking it to like, when your father got kids on the other side of town and, you know, they mother don't like you and brother don't like them, so y'all know which I don't like about each other. But then you get older, you reconnect, and y'all start realizing, oh that's my brother, y'all we got the same face, we kinda came from the same spot. - Yeah. - You still may have those hang ups, but you start to undo a lot of the bullshit, you've been told. - That's exactly it. - And I think like, you know, as kids for us, like African was like, that was like a bad, I was like a diss to say somebody. - Yeah, booty scratcher, African booty scratcher. I remember when I saw that, it was like from a comedy, who said it was a Jamie who said it was funny, but I remember like, I remember going, wait, that's an insult. - They would say that, they would say that. - I remember like, look at this African booty scratcher and I was like, wait a minute. - That's why I be, you know, and that's the crazy thing too, because it's like, as black people, like I don't even really get mad too much about, like when white people kind of grow up with these crazy prejudices and stereotypes for us, I can't be mad because we was taught the same shit and we believed it too. You know what I'm saying? Like we believe a lot of the bullshit that they told us to, we learn from the same place. - Yeah. - You watch the same movies. We watch the same show, we heard the same distance. So a lot of the stuff that's kind of perpetuated as stereotypes, we participated in it. So we can't be that mad because we got tricked too, you know? And I think it's cool now to see that those lines are starting to sort of fade and we're starting to kind of see how much we got in common. - But that's what I like about your analogy though is, I think for a long time, people made the mistake of assuming because people shared the same dad, they were the same person. - Yeah. - And it's like, no, Africans, even within Africa, and then African-Americans, there are so many differences in a good way, but then there are so many commonalities in a good way. So it's like, don't flatten the people and be like, we're all the same. It's like, no, we have a lot in common and it's cool to bump into those things and then we also have so many differences. It's also cool to bump into those things. So I think that's what I've enjoyed as the evolution of it is people going, oh, that's where we're, oh, okay, pig feet? Oh yeah, I don't, that's where it's fly though because I could have the same conversation somebody from Alabama, you know what I'm saying? Like it ain't that far away. - Yeah, right. - It's like, like I joke about this, but it's true. If I have kids now, when they grow up, they're gonna grow up a lot more like white kids in the suburbs than me. And they write from me, you know what I'm saying? So like, 20,000 miles away or whatever the fuck, you know what I mean? Like an Africa wherever, it's a lot, lot can change. We could be the same exact person, but the dynamic of the environment that we're in makes us completely different. - It's one of my favorites. - It's one of my favorite jokes you've told by the way. Like, you know, when you hear a joke and it'll just make you chuckle whenever you feel like chuckling, was Michael has a joke where he says, I just realized I grew up, you know, a certain way and I'm just paraphrasing, you know, I grew up a certain way. And it's like if my kid, if I have a kid, my kid is gonna live a much better life, they're gonna be well adjusted, they're gonna be good, they're gonna be this, they, you know, they're gonna, like they're gonna live a good life, they're gonna be a better person, they blah, blah, blah. And he's like, I don't wanna see that. (laughing) - It's true though, it's, I don't know how to, I don't know how to process that. I don't know how to process that, but it's real. To me, like, it's, the joke is kind of from an insecurity of like, I'm bringing up a kid and this world, and then envy, yeah. But also, you're the first generation. - They're gonna be sharper than me in ways that I could even do with them, you know, like the way I grew up, we was beaten to submission. You know what I'm saying, like, we was kind of taught, like you either gonna work or you gonna die, you know, like that sort of thing, like, it's a scary way. I don't know how to parent in a world where kids have everything, you know what I'm saying? - Autonomy agency access. - It's the same, yeah. - And the emotional intelligence of a well-adjusted kid will surpass an adult's way of thinking. - Oh, we die in a given time. Like I've seen, sometimes, my daughter will just let me think what I want to think without having to fight me. 'Cause she knows that it is what it is. And she'll be like, okay, then we'll just end there. 'Cause, you know, in my world, you fight for your stake. Like you said, beat the person to submission. They'll just be like, okay. Then you'll come around and be like, yeah, but that was wrong. - It's scary. - And I'm like, you are 15 or 12 or 13. You really can beat me logically because of how well-adjusted you are. - Yeah. - You realize that this is not right. - 'Cause I mean, you've been on the journey. I wonder if, 'cause I understand what you're saying as an insecurity here, isn't there like a little spark of like maybe like joy that comes into your head going like, is there a little excitement that you have at the idea of them experiencing that? Like you are the person who is, just imagine this for a moment. I always think about this. To be the first of your generation, the first of not your generation, the first of your lineage to break out of something in a good way. Man, just think about that for a moment. - Yeah, but it, you know, it also just makes me think of like, what's that, an imposter syndrome kind of thing? 'Cause, you know, I think of like my grandmother. She's like washing floors with no headphones and shit. You know, like that was her, and she's better person than anybody sitting here. - Right, right, right. - Because I could do jokes. I get to learn what it's like to have water shoot up your butt and what up do you poop, you know? She'll never know that joy, you know what I mean? Like that kind of thing, like you, - Is your grandson alive? - No, she's gone, she died on COVID. - Oh yes, I remember this, I'm sorry, yes. - No, no, it's not your fault. - No, no, no, but I remember this. - It's not your fault. - No, I'm sorry for forgetting is what I'm saying. - It's what I'm saying, it's what I'm saying, it's what I'm saying. (laughing) This is how I brush my skin. No, but she, you know, she passed away. - The reason I say I'm sorry as well is, again, 'cause I flesh back to one of my favorite lines, where he said, I refuse to believe this shit happened because I'm Chinese, nigga, ate a bat. And I remember, I couldn't believe, I was so sad listening to the rest of the story, and you said that line, and I remember going, I don't know what's happening right now in my body. (laughing) Yo, you were like, I refuse. You were like, it must have been ever. You're like, I don't believe, you're like, I don't care about conspiracy theories, I'm not getting involved in politics enough, but I'm just letting you guys know, I refuse to believe that this, my world has collapsed because something, I ate a bat. (laughing) - This is a hard, that's a hard self in my household. - So do you never, do you never think to yourself, though, that maybe I'm saying this because it's how I process things? I think of it as a culmination. So I don't think of it as because I tell jokes or because I did this, I have this life. I go, man, my grandmother worked, my grandmother worked cleaning things and then working in a factory, till her hands couldn't close anymore. My grandmother, when she passed through her hands were basically like this. She couldn't like hold anything, you know? She literally worked her hands down to the bone. - Literally. - But like, when I think of the moments that we got to share where, at least she got to like see the family get better and she's, you know, A, she was appreciative of things that I, took for granted she didn't care for them and like for instance freedom was the biggest one for her yeah like for real for real for real I would still talk about like uh what does it mean you know the family now you see we got a house that's bare you know we always just we all used to sleep in one room my grand is like she's like what she's like no Trevor I'm like what do you most appreciate like we're free she's all Trevor you don't you don't know what it was like don't like what do you what do you mean I know it was best she's like no you don't know what it was like she's like oh you you can just walk now you can just walk yeah like and I was like damn for her she's really processing this from a different place I'm looking at it sort of from an amenities and luxuries perspective I'm like look at what we can have yeah she's going no look at what we can be she's like you could just go to a school and read and she's like wow you can walk in the streets now and I was like damn so that's what she was grateful for yes deep I look at it sort of in the middle of that because I do think those two things are connected I think like first of all I do deeply my heart believe that black people are naturally socialist people because we're just community people and and our stake in the community our standing in the community is kind of more important than anything but I do think where money comes in is I think it costs a lot of money to feel free for black people in this country for me and everywhere I think yeah I can only speak for myself though like I like I realize I'm like a lot of money like I probably hopefully won't spend the money that I've made in my lifetime because I don't even want the stuff you know I don't even really want how many cars do you want how big of a house do you need like it don't really cost a lot of money to be with me I wear a lot of hoodies and sneakers from the 90s you know what I'm saying like shouldn't that expensive and I do think though there's an amount of money where I feel like they won't treat me like they did you know what I mean or I can go wherever I want dressed how I want and and they'll say oh that's Michael you can't get in here with oh no I know you come in come on in like the freedom of just being able to live wherever I want or to to eat wherever I want or to where what I want or to not need permission that's like what I need money for and I can I challenge you yeah on one part of it not to dismiss it no please I think you are making a mistake of conflating the money with the familiarity of fame I would argue that you would have exactly all of these same things with fame because what fame does is frame fame bridges the gap of ignorance yeah what fame does is it allows somebody to see you apart from the collective as you sit in the beginning of our conversation the numbers so now with fame you're not one of those black kids on the corner you're not some sketchy guy with a hoodie you're not it's like yeah there was this guy oh my god it's Michael Chey you see that thing like you you you go from being a blur in a line up to being a face sure does that make sense I think that money makes the money thing I know the reason I say is because like I think sometimes we conflate the money with the the access or with the preference or with that but it's like no it to me it's like oh I've seen black people with money who sort of don't like have that still but I think a lot of times that's why black people wear their money oh definitely I think that's when you see like a black guy that's not famous he's got on 40 necklaces yeah yeah definitely no I think I think it's sort of a signaling of your signaling I'm you don't have to use the baton officer you know that kind of thing like I make a lot of money I'm okay it's sort of this it's sort of this signaling like you said no no I completely agree with that I think I think there's something to that it's all in and you know again I wish we lived in a world where everybody could just kind of experience that sort of freedom it's not just because you have money yeah not just because you're famous I can't tell you I mean times I've gone to a restaurant or a club or a bar or whatever and you know they're like no and then someone runs down and say we are so sorry we didn't know and you're like yeah but yeah dad I wouldn't feel comfortable there just be you know you want me there just because it's me what about everybody else that looks like yeah now I know who's in there you know I'm saying it ain't nobody that look like me so this probably isn't the place for me so it's you know it's that kind of thing where you you know there's this insecurity that nobody wants you here you feel that way coming up on what now the gift is the success but because of the success you don't get to see each other there was a point where I was seeing this guy every week that's right maybe twice a week at least and then you bump into each other little straight oh you here in Australia oh shit you're in Canada they're like Michael's yet Michael's yet yeah yeah then now you're like well I guess I'm getting drunk and then it's like like well Hannibal's yet I guess we're not waking up tomorrow then it became this thing my favorite is like when it would overlap at like the seller you would just see travel travel travel travel travel to line up you just like literally yeah sometimes it would align but we're just all in town and it's amazing how time moves and how you know your experiences shape you around the same time you were getting on to SNL was around the same time almost exactly yeah I was getting on the daily show was around the same time Michael B Jordan got a fantastic four and it was so funny I remember like these random conversations one I had was with with Michael and I said to him I think it was at a Met Gala or one of those some event there's not the right place to have this conflict but I just said to him I was like hey man how are you dealing with this I think because selfishly I wanted to know yeah I was like how are you I'm watching everyone say like the torch can't be a black man this like how are you dealing with how are you and now when you look at it now you people will be like Michael be Joe no no one was saying that now he seems obvious and now he's entrenched right now he's doing you can do anything he wants literally one of the few movie stars left in the world yeah yeah but there was a time literally where people were just like the human torch it was as simple as that human torch not a black guy human turtle and I remember asking Michael I said yo how do you how do you feel how you dealing with this uh and he he said something that was really really powerful he said said I struggled with it I doubted I said then one day I just went like if not me then who he's like yeah if not me then who you don't want it to be me but then but then who in all of these situations if not me then who instead of me constantly going I don't belong here it's like okay but then if not me then who someone's got to be in that spot someone's got to do stuff someone's got to that stuck with me and then the other one was for us I mean it was a similar thing we both were in a position where we took over a beloved white man spot yo one of the only things that kept me going at the daily show was seeing the hate that you were getting glad somebody got some you started no you know why because like because I know exactly because they realize oh it's not personal Trevor yeah exactly because at first the first time like it's about me then I was like no it's not about you because they said like oh his accent the way he's from he he doesn't understand that he's this he gave me a list all of it yeah they gave me a full list and I believed it genuinely believed it then I read people's articles comments tweets posts about Michael and then I went way but he's none of yeah well he's none of those things and then they but then they found more things they're like oh you know how you're gonna wear Jordans with a suit at the desk and that's no respect for the and look at the way he carries and those earrings you're gonna that does the SNL desk really need swag and then put the swag in like the quotes you know it's like is swag the right thing for the desk and then they would always couch it with things when Eddie Murphy came to us and now you could argue that at that time he was a for but is Michael J really the for is and it's just it was such an interesting and by the way just to be clear on this this wasn't coming from like quote unquote like the racists if I can say that way you know like the key to racist the way you always taught about them in America no it was from like the like liberal spaces and the think PC yeah and I remember being like and I would read these of Michael J and I was just like I'm sorry to say it but it really gave me like a bit of peace because I was just like oh okay and I remember even talking to you about it yeah and I'll be like yo when I'm about bump into you in the cell I'll be like oh man how you doing how you feeling about this shit how you and we'd commiserate and we talking he'd be like how you doing it's funny because you were still I had a harder job you're like man you were releasing John yeah I remember one time I was like I like confess how jealous I was of how much time and you get on a subject to kind of dive in and do that. And he was like, I fucking love that you just get to do a joke and move the fuck on. And like literally like you get to kind of do that. That would be so much more fun. It's like a weird thing again. You're just like looking at, you know, on the other side of the fence, you're like, wow. That looks like the move and you know. - Yeah, but that thing, you don't understand how you being there helped me be there. - And vice versa. - Like genuinely, genuinely, genuinely. On a Saturday, I'm not working. I'll get to sit and watch Michael Che. And I'll be like, just like in my own little world, it would be me and Kibuka. And we were just like, we were religiously on week and up then we would watch that with you. And we were just like, damn, Michael's doing it. - That's the dope part too is like, if we're both doing it, then you don't have to do all things and I don't have to do all things. Like sort of more of us doing it, being in our niche in our corners, we don't have to do everything. - Yeah, you don't have to do all things as well. - Yeah, so it's like, it's like to be there, yeah. - When you would cover something, the way you would cover it and the detail you would go through every subject, I could do a slight joke now. You know what I mean, because it's been done, you know what I mean, it's been covered. We can be punchy. You know what I mean, or whatever the fuck, it could be different. And now you have both. So it's kind of dope. - I never thought of it like that. - Yeah, when there is one, they have to be everything. - They have to be everything. - And then you don't get to be like, just you. Damn. - Yeah, that's why. - And now I can't, there are people I've seen who cannot see any other possible reality other than you being at that disc. - Yeah, yeah. - Do you sometimes think about how crazy that is now? How you have become the defaults? - I don't know, no in a beautiful way though. - Well, and the thing I don't understand for me, it's different for me because I'm at that show all the time. And I've seen, I mean, I've seen Kate McKennan leave. You know, you see stars, superstars leave and motherfuckers that you can't imagine leaving leaving. And so it's like, all right, it'll move on. It'll be something else. But I think. - No, but what I mean though is, imagine your trajectory in your journey. I wonder if you ever consider the fact that not for everyone, but for many outside, not speaking for SNL, because they're the ones who picked you. But you came in as the outsider, the not be longer, the doesn't have the polish, doesn't have the this, doesn't have. And now I watch you, when you and Colin do a joke swap, come on, man. - Yeah. - Like you are so default now. - Yeah. - Do you ever think about how crazy that is? - It is, it's crazy when it's told to me. But to us, it's always like, you always just, I don't know, it's never sort of a sense of, yeah, we are the rock, you know what I mean? Like it's never, it's never gonna feel like that. But when people say like, oh, that's the steady part of the show, when, you know, they kind of, we end up being like sort of an afterthought sometimes. Like sometimes we don't even get to rehearse because they spend so much time working on the other stuff that they're like, oh yeah, you guys just roll in. I'm like, we understood roll in. No, whether you're the only one that don't get to rehearse and we just got to kind of go out there. Like that's how I trust you. That's strange. - Okay. - That's when it's like hard to understand. That's when you, that's when you feel it. But it happens, yeah, it's interesting. - But you still maintain your love of standup. Was that, is that hard for you? Or like do you have to make a conscious efforts guard and do standup or do standup pull you? Standup, I get the urge a lot. But trying to get the special done this year, like the past year, I've been doing it a lot more. And it's, you know, it's just something about the speed of standup, man. Like my brain never feels more alive than being on a stage. - There's nothing like killing and bombing, you know what I mean? Like just sort of that whole thing, just the whole thing of it. It's harder than it was when I was younger for some reason. I think it's because, you know, like when you're younger and you're doing standup, it's like, who cares? Like this could work, this could not work, whatever. But like at this point in your career, they got a babysitter. - What did I say to you though, man? - They got the hair done. - What did I say to you? - And I was the only job that get exponentially harder. - Yeah. - It's a strange, like I watch musicians, the longer they go, the easier it gets. I'm not saying performing is easy. But now you have your catalog, you have two albums, three albums that, and the people already come in knowing you're gonna do that album. And there's like a, now, yeah, now the hard part is doing the show and putting on a great show. So I'm not minimizing it, but the curve is so different I find with comedy, it's easier in the beginning. Nobody knows you, nobody expects anything, nobody you can surprise them, you can, you know. - It's the best featuring was the sweetest part. Oh my God, it was the, it was like a surprise. It was like literally, you was the toy in the cracker jack box. What the cracker jacks would think? You was the toy and they're like, what a whistle. It was that, you was better than the dad lord, you know what I'm saying? - Yeah, yeah, yeah, 15, 20 minutes man, you smoke them. They can't believe you came out of nowhere. Now they're like, let's see what he got for an hour. - And they compare you to you. - They compare you, man, that other thing you did. - That was still, that was still your, that was way funnier. I mean, this was cool. - This is cool. - But, come on. - Hey man, why you ain't do that thing about the thing? Yeah, I'm a problem. - Now, you 100%, you're trying to top yourself. - Yeah. - It's tough, but it's, if it wasn't tough, would it be as exciting? - I don't think it was rewarding, man. - You know what I mean? - Yeah. - I don't think it was rewarding. - When you nail it, ain't not like it, ain't not like it, brother. - Ooh. - Oh man, I'm glad. This has been great, man. - This is so much fun. - I can't, you know what, I think this is the first time we've ever done anything. Like this. - Ever. - Like I've never even did the Daily Show. - No, never, never. We've never, we've never done anything. - This is broad recorded, anything. - Yeah, but I was telling Eugene though, genuinely. I look at you as one of my like, it's this like, the people who possess a special place in my heart because I go way our journey began and how it began. Like, I know you as Michael Che, before you were like the Michael Che, and I was a fan of your comedy, before like everyone was a fan of the comedy. - You think this other week, yeah. - And then the gift and the curse of it is, you, me, Hannibal, you know, all these people, then we don't get to see each other. Because ironically, the gift is the success, but because of the success, you don't get to see each other. There was a point where I was seeing this guy every week. - That's right. - Maybe twice a week, at least. And then you bump into each other and then we're straight, "Oh, you here in Australia?" "Oh shit, you're in Canada." They're like, "Michael's here, Michael's here." - Yeah, yeah. - Then now you're like, "Well, I guess I'm getting drunk." And then it's like, "Lick, Hannibal's here." I guess we're not waking up tomorrow. Then it became this thing. - My favorite is like when they would overlap at like the seller. You would just see, "Travel, travel, travel, travel, travel." "When I line up, you just throw the, "Chay, chay, chay, chay, chay." - Oh, that was the best, man. You just like literally, sometimes it would align, when we're just all in town, where-- - Yeah, and you all on the tape, you sitting there together. - Yeah, man. - And it just became like, like not even forced is the wrong, but it became like forced community in a good way. So you go, "Oh, shit, I'm gonna spend the whole night with Michael, Chay, he's gonna jump on, come on." Then I'm gonna go down and come, then we have to wait for the next show. And then we go down, come up and we, that's what I was saying to SD, I was like, I'm both happy and sad that the seller has so many rooms. Happy for them, happy for comedy, 'cause more comedians can work. Happy for the audience, 'cause more people can see a show. But sad, 'cause we spend less time at that table. - Ships at the chips in the night. - Yeah, you said this. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. That was me, you and Dave, just at the seller on stage for like an hour. That was fucking crazy. - It would be like that we'll just end nobody planned it. Nobody called, nobody, we just ended up there, you know? And it's just-- - Yeah, but what I don't like about this is, so this is my pet peeve with Dave Chappelle. - And I tell him this. Dave Chappelle refuses to accept the idea that I'm a fan of his comedy. He refuses that idea. - Yeah. - You know me. I love watching stand-up comedy. I love this comedians where I go. If they say Michael Chase performing, and I can't watch Michael Chase, you will. I'm gonna watch Michael Chase. I'm not going to perform. Dave will go, Dave's in town. Yo, Dave's in town. You gotta come, I'm gonna come. And then I'm in the audience. And then Dave goes, yo, I heard Trevor know it. Trevor. (laughing) - You're like, I'm here to watch you, my friend. - Yeah. - Michael, Trevor. - I'm like, Dave, man, I just came to watch you. And he's like, no man, why don't you want to get on set? I'm like, Dave, I know it's hard for you to maybe believe or accept. I do not only wish for stage time in life. (laughing) - Dave is a different kind of animal. - Yeah, but I'm like, but I want to watch you. I want to watch you sitting in my chair and unable to participate in any way, shape or form. But he just, Dave is like a kid who wants to play with all of his friends in his favorite- and that thing is comedy. And that's what I always tell him is I go, thank you for always reminding me what comedy is and how it's supposed to be. - I think it's like, it's like a sparring with him, like to me. I've never talked to him about it, but I do believe it keeps him sharp. Like when he knows you got a fast blade, you know you got a sharp blade. He wants to be on that stage with you. Let's go, he likes it. You know, like to him, it's like, it's like-- - Steel sharp and steel. - Steel sharp and steel, but it's like a jazz club. You know, we're all the best musicians on there and let's see what everybody got and jump on and you jump on. Let's see who's really quick. You know, like I think it keeps him sharp. I think it's the most fun and, you know, there's times where I'm like, I don't wanna get on stage. You know, I don't wanna do this shit, man. 'Cause he can do that all the time. - Yeah. - And I gotta remind myself, like these are special times, you know, we're not gonna always be able to do this just because of the way time works. And I'm gonna look back at every single one of those times and wish for 'em. So it's dope that he takes pictures of everything, like the way he documents. - Yeah. - He's gonna have a museum of comedy. - He's sort of-- - He already does pretty much, you know what I'm saying? - When it's done. - When it's done. - We will all look and go, we are grateful that he, - Yeah. - memorialized all of us. - Seriously. - Like in ways that you just take for granted, man. - Yeah, you can't take it for granted and we do, but those nights, you can't remember. I'll never forget them. And yeah, I think he just likes the, I think he just likes the sparring of it. - Yeah, he does. - No, he doesn't. - He definitely does. - And it makes me like it too. You know, like I like to do it on a road or you know, you just have some friends like, "Let's just go out there and just fuck around and see." Just see, 'cause something special might happen. - Yeah. - Usually it doesn't. - I don't like it at all. - At all. - It's not told, Dave. I'm like, no, man. I want to watch the show. - That was fun though. - For you. When I'm watching a show, I'm watching a show. My brain has a very different, like you know me. - Man, when I'm going to do comedy, my brain has to be in a very different place. - But when you're dropping in, like let's say you're just working on it. - I don't drop in. - Nine is out there. - I don't drop in anywhere. - Really? - Yeah. Val and Liz and everyone of the comedy said, it will still say to me, you know what I drop? I'm like, no, I don't want to drop in. I never want to drop in. I do not drop in. - I never knew that. - No, I will plan a show, book a show, do a show. I'm not just gonna pop in and this thing is so like, you see what you said about how you feel about comedy in the beginning. To me, dropping in would be like, I'm a boxer and then I just pop in to a random place where they're having a fight and be like, yo, let me do two rounds. No, I have to warm up backstage. My body and my mind have to be in a certain place. And I actually like that feeling. I like knowing that I'm gonna box today. I don't just want to jump in the ring and just sit for a little bit. No, no, no, no, I don't want that. Don't do that to me. So I love just bumping into comedy and watching it. But I do not, I never want to jump on. He'll tell you, never, never, never. - Wow, I think you want to jump on? No, I do not. - Sometimes I like it just to feel just to see that I need it. Like if I go up there and I got nothing, it makes me want to write. And if I go up there and I got something, it makes me want to write. You know, like it kind of like, it's my motivation to give it to me. - Makes you feel something. Yeah, let's me know where I'm at and then I'm like, all right, I gotta get going. - Okay, I'm on the road or I'm working so much in stand-up that I don't need that as a- - So then what do you start with? - What do you mean? - Like when you're, okay, I'm gonna work on it now. I'm working on it. I got some dates. What are you starting with? What's that first hour comprised of? - So I always have multiple hours running concurrently in my head. That's what I always, always, always have. And then, I think Eugene and I are similar in that like if we haven't been on stage for a while and you'll correct me for a while, we'll maybe like go to something we just like, no. But then very quickly, it's back to generation mode. It's like, okay, now it's all the stuff we don't know. So what I'm trying to do is I get on stage and I go, do I feel funny? Do I, if I don't, do the things where you know they're funny and you like respect the audience. - Jumpstart yourself. - Yeah, jumpstart yourself. And when I'm in that mode now, it's like okay, okay, I'm going now. Now, I'll do everything. But I have, I've always had concurrent hours in my head and then what happened is COVID created such a backlog that I still haven't caught up. - Wow. - So what I do now is, there are some ideas that I'm like working on or pondering or thinking about where I still haven't like figured them out or the time isn't right or the, so I'll just be like, and then I think the zeitgeist matches you in a moment and you're like, oh, okay, now it's time, I can say this and I can't put this up. - Yeah, yeah, I call it the junkyard. I'll just have like, just pieces in the junkyard and it'll make sense. I'm like, I feel like a doc in the back of the future, and just got a bunch of pieces to show you. - There you go. - Yeah. - That's exactly how I feel like it. That's how I feel about it, that's how I enjoy. So I don't ever think of like, I'm trying to build this hour. - Yeah. - You know? - Yeah. - 'Cause I'm like, what is this hour? What is this? It's like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, let me, let me generate, let me generate, let me generate, let me generate, every country, I'll do a different set, every place, every world, every, like. - That's crazy. - But that's how we've always generated, him and I are very similar in like our sort of comedy, vibe and philosophy. - That was one of the things that I noticed about like, like, overseas, like when I would do those festivals, international festivals, I noticed like, guys not from America would have these sort of, like, they would launch into like stories. - Yeah. - Yeah, yeah. - And I just could not figure out how you could even do that. I think it's got a lot to do with the audiences that are like willing to listen. I think like American audiences are usually, our attention span is like, you gotta be fast, you gotta talk to them, you gotta like, you know what I mean? Like you gotta like, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop. Then you earn the right to tell a story. But like, I will watch like a guy come out and he's starting a story, no laughs in 10 minutes, but the laugh that he gets after 10 minutes is huge because they were engaged. - There's a lot of journey. - They're much better sort of, I don't know, presenters in that way. But I feel like in New York, it's like, you gotta be funny 10 times in 10 minutes at least before you could even start thinking about being a, telling a fucking story. Did I mean like, are you kidding me? You gonna start with a story? I think I really don't even know who you are. Like really? It's just like, like even for me, like, I'll be on stage for my audience. If I don't get a laugh in about three minutes, they like. - Three minutes. - Yeah, no, that's crazy to us. - Three minutes. - That's crazy. - Three minutes. - Yeah, that's crazy to us. - No man. - Three minutes. - The first line. - Yeah, but it probably should be something. If five minutes, they'll give you three, they'll give you about five charm minutes. You could be charming. - Okay. - But happy to be here. - Yeah, but remember this though. - Three minutes. - These guys had no space, no time. Like, think about how many people were doing comedy. Think of how big comedy has been. Think about, we were the opposite. You guys were like, "Hey, we'll give you three minutes." I remember when I first came to America and then I was at the Lafactory in L.A. - Oh, L.A, yeah, yeah, yeah. - Yeah, I would chocolate Sundays. And then they were like, all right, like after many weeks, they're like, "Okay, you can go up." And I was like, "Okay, finally I can go up." And then they were like, "You're doing three." And I was like, "What, three spots?" And they're like, "No, three minutes." - Oh, yeah, yeah, that's the new Jack. (laughing) - My friend, what do you say in three minutes? They're like, "Well, you better be funny." And that was it, they're like, "You got three minutes." Then I realized, no, because there's such a saturation of talent and potential, like people are waiting, they're like, "We don't have time to see if you're good or funny or anything." But on outside of the world, there were so few comedians and comedies such a like rare thing in that way, that people were going, there's two comedians, this audience is expecting one hour, one and a half hour show. - Yeah. - So, can you do 45? And you're like, "I just started last week." (laughing) - You remember this? - Yeah, 100%. - They'll be like, "45." You're like, "I just started last week." They're like, "Yeah, just do, just keep going." And you'd be like, "Look at your work." Like, "You're okay, I guess that's seven." - What else? - That's crazy. - But there'll be times where they're like, "Yeah, just keep going." You're like, "Hit 45." You're trying to get off, we have the opposite of a life. - I know there's comedians not in it. - We could be like, "Go back." - I know there's comedians now with like, maybe five to 10 years experience that's probably never done a full hour. - No way. - Easy. - Yeah. - Absolutely. - In their life. - In their life, they've never done a full hour. Hell yeah. Where are you gonna do it? - This is what I've been telling you. - Yeah, I know, makes sense. - Where are you gonna do it? I always say America taught me about jokes in a fantastic way, the two and a half, three years that I spent on the road here, you know, doing the flappers, comedy, you know, the random, the B clubs, not I was never in an improv or any of those. I was always in the second tier club in the city. Is that right? Yeah, I just never got into the top clubs. So I would always like, let's say like Neil Brennan our bump into, he would be at the improv and then I would be at the whatever, the Hoki Poke. And I was, I was always that guy at that club. The Hoki Poke. Yeah, there's always that kind of name. And then that taught me like, okay, because when I first came to America, I came with our thing, I remember my first line, man, Chris Spencer, you know Chris Spencer. Of course. I'll never forget this man. I go to the comedy store had another show tripping on Tuesdays, I think it was called. So you, I go there, they're like, okay, you're gonna go on. Great. Get on stage. Tell me you greeted. Good evening. Good evening. Oh, man. Greeted, the man. I greeted because we were so, we greet. Yo, greetings. All black audience. Every and every comedian who came on before me, the band and the music would play. They would come on. They would like, yeah, yeah, come on. Come on. I don't cut it. You know, man, give me that shit back. What man? What y'all know man? And then they'd go in and they'd start hitting it. You know, and they'd be funny. And then I came on. And now I'm at the mic waiting. I'm like, when is the music going to stop? I'm waiting here. I'm just standing there at the microphone. These guys are probably like, you know, he's not gonna acknowledge the music or anything. Damn it. I'm like, good evening. Yo, the crowd went. I don't know if there's an opposite, like anti-silence. It wasn't just silence. It was like a vacuum. Yeah. I guess I'm pretty good evening. Nobody responded. Then I went, good evening. And then people were like, yeah, good evening. But like, like, what are you making an announcement? Yeah. And then I went and I started doing my thing, started doing silence and confusion filtered through the whole set. And then I was done. Nobody hated me. Nobody liked me. It was just confusion. It was just what was this? Yo, what happened here? And Chris Benson, I'll never forget, came up to me afterwards. And he was like, Hey, man, he's like, where are you from? I was like, from South Africa. And he's like, oh, so for real? I thought it was like a bit or so. He's like, I thought you were like, nigga, from Brooklyn. And then you were putting on it. I was like, no, I'm from South Africa. He's like, man. And he's like, man, you got, you got to know how we experience it. You're like, the cable station, he was like, good evening. And then Chris was just like, yo, you got to understand the time and the space and who the audience is and how we perceive you and what they expect of you. And it was, he was one of the my custodians I was thinking life and he helped me. And then and as I would grow, I was like, oh, America had this thing of like, yo, come on, let's go. You get on stage. I would always be like offended because Americans used to come to South Africa. And then they would get on stage. Wouldn't agree. They just walk on and be like, give it up for Michael Jay. And then the American would come on. She'd be like, so the other day, I'm looking at my wife, right? My wife's in the kitchen. And I'm like, ah, my man. Who's your wife? Who are you? Who's your family? You can't just study story like that, my friend. My wife. No, my brother. No good evening. So you don't see us. Ah, this guy just comes out and is telling us about his business. Did I ever notice how we noticed how you didn't greet us, my man? Don't worry about noticing. So then I learned that in America. Yeah. But then when I went to those first Ireland, you know, doing shows in Dublin, doing shows in Scotland, all of that, they were almost like comedians were like, Trevor, why, it feels like yeah, yeah, Russian. Like you're trying to like get to a joke. And I was like, what do you mean? They were, you know, you can take a bit of time, explain the story a bit more. I was like, take a bit of time. They're like, yeah, they're comedy festivals. Even the like opening sort of spots. It was like 15 minutes. That's an opening spot. Yeah, comedy. Yeah. So, so I liked that like, I always say Edinburgh taught me how to like share an idea with an audience and think through it and Dublin taught me how to think of a story and its purpose and what I'm doing. America taught me about jokes. South Africa taught me about like, like vibe and like the juice inside of something, the texture. It's like, no, it's not just about what you're saying. It's like, yay, man. Are you? Yeah, you say it like, you know what I mean? Are you saying it? There's things. So, yeah, so that thing is, have you done comedy in South Africa? Never. Never. Never. Come on Michael. Never been. You know, every time I talk to you, you gotta get you like the block. We get to a point where you're like, you gotta come to South Africa. We're gonna get you off the block. You're killing us, man. I gotta go. They got to do it. We're gonna do it. No, man. This is dope. We're gonna do it. Let's do it. I'm gonna, you always say that. We, but we've got to do it though. It says you're a very busy man, but you have what three months off on how long is your break normally? We're done. We've got three months off in the summer. That's what I mean. Yeah. It's just three months. We're like June, July, August. Just one trip. Yeah. I would love to just one trip. I would love to do it. The place is beautiful. So even if you hate the comedy, you'll love the place. I've only heard really, really. But the comedy? You'll never look back. Where? Yo. Yo, I don't even think you understand. Our audiences are some of the best in the world. Yeah. The vibe that you'll feel in the room. The end like. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. I'm so jealous of him. Yeah. I'm dying to go to South Africa. There's so many. South African girls in my algorithm. My whole algorithm. Now that's how I learn flags. I learn flags like a mother. South African flag is popping on my just. I'm telling you. I'm telling you. I'm telling you. I'm telling you. I'm swimming out there. Oh my god. I'm going. Let's go. I'm down. I'm saying yes. I'm saying yes. You know what? I'm just picturing right on Jay. And he's just like Grenada. Yeah. Trinity dead. South Africa. South Africa. Just the other day he's learning about. I don't know. I started looking at the flags. Yeah. It's the Dominican. Crazy. Oh man. It's the Dominican. Crazy. Oh man. Oh, look at the flags. Now this is the top man. Michael Chase. No, thank you brother. I can't believe it's been this long. It's been too long. We've got to make it less long. What now with Trevinoa is produced by DayZero Productions in partnership with Sirius XM. The show is executive produced by Trevinoa Sanasiamin and Jess Hackel. Rebecca Chain is our producer. Our development researcher is Marcia Robiu. Music mixing and mastering by Hannes Brown. Random other stuff by Ryan Hardoof. Thank you so much for listening. Join me next week for another episode of What Now.