Black Music Month: Wayne Brady Part 1

Wayne Brady drops by Questlove Supreme in the studio for an epic two-part interview. In Part 1, Wayne looks back at his upbringing and foray into entertainment. Wayne is charismatic, funny, and still incredibly real as he revisits his journey from Florida to becoming a household name across television, music, comedy, and Broadway. This interview also features some basic get-to-know-somebody questions that lead to deeper answers than expected.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Quest Love Supreme is a production of iHeartRadio.

Speaker 2 (00:04):
This is one of those rare moments where the guest
actually knows what's happening.

Speaker 3 (00:07):
Yeah, and he can freestyle and it's really good.

Speaker 2 (00:09):
Ah boy, No no pressure, No pressure on Wayne Brady,
there's no right, no pressure.

Speaker 1 (00:17):
Let's go with it.

Speaker 4 (00:18):
Supreme sup Up Supremo, roll call Suprema sup sup Suprema,
roll call Supreme, SUPs Up SUPREMEO, roll call Supreme, Suck
Suck SUPREMEA.

Speaker 1 (00:32):
Role called friend of Foe. Yeah, which is which?

Speaker 2 (00:36):
Yeah, it's Questlove the choker bitch call Suprema.

Speaker 4 (00:42):
Su su Suprema roll let me go get Suprema so
Supreme with regrets.

Speaker 1 (00:50):
Okay, yeah I digress. Yeah that corny rhyme scheme was
a hot mess.

Speaker 4 (00:56):
Roll Supreme except Prima, roll call Suprema Suck Suck SUPREMEA
role call.

Speaker 1 (01:05):
My name is Fante. Yeah, I'm with my bros. Yeah,
hose day yeah Day.

Speaker 5 (01:13):
Supreme Shut su Supreme, Rollkay SUPREMEA shut suh SUPREMEA roll call.

Speaker 1 (01:22):
My name is Chuck.

Speaker 3 (01:22):
Yeah just wait and see. Yeah, I'm the big prize
behind door number three.

Speaker 4 (01:28):
Oh call supremeau Supreva roll call Suprema su su suprema
roll call.

Speaker 6 (01:37):
I'm unpaid, Bill, Yeah, let me explain. Yeah, fuck the eclipse. Yeah,
one hundred percent chance of Wayne.

Speaker 4 (01:44):
Oh car supreme set so supreme for roll call Suprema
sub Sun Suprema roll call.

Speaker 1 (01:53):
My name is Wayne. Yeah when it comes to improv, Yeah,
this is the thing I do. Yeah, it's a great
up suprema. So so let me go again because y'all
take my good.

Speaker 5 (02:06):
Enough brave roll call on Downpreva su subprivo roll call
Supremo Sun Sun subprivo roll call.

Speaker 2 (02:18):
Wait a minute, that you really thought you were going
to have to you were trying to choke a bit
on your first one.

Speaker 1 (02:24):
No no, no, no, no no. But it was so
nice that you guys all gave me little nods that
I wanted to do something that that kind of uh
encapsulated everybody else. So rust me. If you've heard, oh god,
the amount of car crash that was perfect. Well, I'm honored,
so thank you so much. That was thank you very much.

Speaker 3 (02:43):
I need a rerun on mine. I missed You're good man.
You know you got me out a character by calling
me Steve instead just mean.

Speaker 1 (02:53):
All right, So.

Speaker 3 (02:55):
All right, thank you.

Speaker 2 (02:58):
All right, ladies and gentlemen, I'm I'm sorry. I feel
bad for disrespecting Sugar. He wants me to now refer
to him to the nickname.

Speaker 3 (03:06):
You're always telling me to, you know, to embrace your brand.

Speaker 1 (03:10):
You know that's embrace your brand. Here, I am all right,
well now in twenty twenty four, so give me my flowers.

Speaker 2 (03:17):
Yes, some fifteen years after I tried to kill you
know how he got his nickname Sugar Steve?

Speaker 3 (03:23):
Yeah, Wayne Brady knows how I got my next name.

Speaker 1 (03:27):
Pretty much.

Speaker 2 (03:28):
No, he had moved to Philadelphia, like Steve has been
on a long time engineer on like a lot of
those records Common and DiAngelo and all that stuff.

Speaker 1 (03:37):
Back of the Electric ladies.

Speaker 2 (03:38):
So when we tried to kill me, right when we
left New York to come back to Philadelphia and he
was my engineer, let's just say that Steve just quickly
adapted to my very unhealthy eating lifestyle basically days and
I invertently gave this be a diet beadies. So so

(04:01):
you got the sugar, the sugar, yes, prayer and got
you got what we'll see, I.

Speaker 3 (04:12):
Got the sugars and the itis.

Speaker 1 (04:14):
At this point yes, I don't think you're allowed to
say itis though with the jury's out, that is he
allowed to say, well, was he ever allowed to go
to the cookout? Because if he's been to the cookout,
then I guess he could say he's.

Speaker 2 (04:27):
An engineered to Erga Badu records, uh into D'Angelo records.

Speaker 1 (04:31):
So I think he has a.

Speaker 2 (04:32):
Quasi Well, we ain't in the church, is what we ate?
Not right, but you know, getting invited to the barbecue
is a whole nother thing. Wait, ladies and gentlemen, the
barbecue after all this time.

Speaker 1 (04:43):
But that's a term. When you get a pass to
the barbecue, that means that you are right.

Speaker 3 (04:47):
I guess if I don't know what that term means,
then I don't deserve a passion.

Speaker 1 (04:51):
Yeah, don't use it. You'll see.

Speaker 2 (04:53):
I get it, you know I got I can tell
already why he is really gonna miss this show. Yeah,
this this of course love Supreme and we are in
person a New York shout out to everyone. This is
rare for light you to step out for cigarettes this time.
You know she'll be back in future episodes. But I
will say that we tried to make this episode happen

(05:16):
I think maybe eight years ago in twenty sixteen. I
forget what happened, but something went a ride the last minute,
but suffice to stay. We're extremely glad that our special
guest today a multi hyphen guest of ours. He is

(05:37):
an Emmy Award winning, five time Emmy Award winning comedian
and actor, a singer, a host, a hell of a freestyler,
I mean, a real artist, a real creative, and of
course I will say he is pretty much part of
the production of one of the play in the movie

(05:59):
that has been so much to my childhood. He's playing
the I don't know you're you're the title character.

Speaker 1 (06:05):
I'm the titular whiz. Right, Yes, you are, indeed the whiz.

Speaker 2 (06:10):
Let's also shout out Deborah Cox and she's a glad
and uh melody really.

Speaker 1 (06:21):
Get her downtown. There you go, we did what different cause, man,
that would have been awesome different man that she's amazing,
that that cast is amazing, So so shout out to them.

Speaker 2 (06:31):
Yeah, all right, so let me see you. What your
name is, Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Wayne Brady. Okay,
let me just say this much. I had one particular
plan for this episode, but I ran across our Dave
Matthews episode, which one of my favorite ones. So I
think because the thing is, I do want to know

(06:54):
his craft and his journey, but I feel like it's
better suited that we just get to know him as
a p There's a rare opportunity because I feel like
people don't know you as a person, like they always
of course say the same thing, like it's such a
talented Everything.

Speaker 1 (07:09):
That you've done is amazing.

Speaker 2 (07:10):
People know that your your Steph Curry levels of just
shoot it and it goes in. I don't know, it
seems effortless every anything you do. I don't think is
there any talent that you are struggling.

Speaker 1 (07:23):
In the juggle? No, I can't juggle those things. You're
making bees yeah yeah yeah, make bees yeah yeah, produced some.
But do you live by yes? And like yes, I
try to. Even if you can't do it, you'll say
like okay, oh yeah. One time on stage, many many

(07:44):
years ago, I think it was like twenty eight, I
was doing a show and someone in a scene I
got challenged to do a backflip because just came up.
But it was so fast, because you know how an
improv scene could just go off the reilt you doing
blah blah blah. This thing happened. Someone says this, but
and then they're like, oh yeah, we'll give it to

(08:04):
And I said, watch this before I could, I watch
this and I did a backflip. A very ugly but
I did a backflip off of the stage and I
landed it the first and only time in my life.
And that happened. I was like, that is that's the
Oh shit, I did it. Yes, And and I look

(08:25):
at that whole thing for kind of a metaphor for life.
You know, how to just go through you have to
embrace things. Yes, and really is a way to get
things done? Now you can't yes and everything, mind you,
but really trying to challenge yourself.

Speaker 2 (08:41):
Okay, so you had a successful backflip. Yeah, ready for
this fact duplicated again. I was like, stall the stall,
the oh it was, oh yeah, that's exactly what would happen. No,
you would not get ass over tea kettle. Will not
happen right now? No, no, no, what was that feeling

(09:04):
like this? I'm actually envious.

Speaker 1 (09:05):
I dream of it. It happened so fast that I
didn't give my time. So the feeling was in real time.
It was like, oh, yeah, watch this because I'm still
like that if someone says, oh I bet you can't
or can you? Or yes, I spend my life in
watch this mode. So at that second I didn't even
get the feeling until afterwards. I just did it and

(09:26):
then went, oh, I could have died, but it was great.
It was great. Wow. Okay, all right, I like that answer.

Speaker 2 (09:35):
So basically, I'm gonna ask you just a series of
random questions and if that causes us the rabbit.

Speaker 1 (09:41):
Hole further, then of course it's west supream. So we
always do that. Number one, what famous person has your birthday?
There is someone hold on June? Second, you're a Semini.

Speaker 3 (09:54):
Yeah, my grandma Elsie.

Speaker 1 (09:57):
Famous. But okay, there got me famous. She's famous in
her town, right, she's famous to me, right? All right, Yeah,
that's kind of weird, man. No, it's actually very much
on brand brand for me, because it's like the reason
that I can do what I do and I'm on
stage and camera blah blah blah, is because there's that

(10:18):
part of me that is the the machine that can
get up and do that thing, and then as soon
as I walk off stage, I will be happy to
just blend into the background. I don't talk to anybody,
So there's a reason why a lot of people don't
know things about me, which I've started sharing in the
past few years. But I'm very much hey, look over here.
But then I quantumly don't want to be be noticed,

(10:42):
you know at a certain Oh oh absolutely, I can
turn it on and turned off. I walk into a room,
you can bring an energy that folks are like, oh shit,
that's it. And then if I want to, I'll sit
there in the corner and you will never know, and
I will sit to sit there and watch it.

Speaker 2 (10:57):
In a social study, I've seen Wayne Brady make entrances
in rooms and literally like you know, because some people
know how to use and utilize their MPH or that thing. Yeah,
but you're saying that you could also do the opposite.

Speaker 1 (11:18):
Yes, absolutely, but it's turning it on, as you put it.

Speaker 7 (11:22):
Did you consider that at the core of all the
things you do, like that skill of being able to
turn on a room or to like make people happy,
let's say, lack of Yeah, the word yeah, is that
kind of what you're most naturally gifted at.

Speaker 1 (11:39):
That's a thing because you know, like I kind of.
I think it goes back to child childhood, like a
lot of like all of our things, I was always
a shy kid. I had a very pronounced stutter at
one point because of they call it what you now,
we'd call it a social anxiety or stress or whatever,
and so I never wanted to talkalk a lot. So

(12:01):
I was very good at pulling my energy back so
you didn't notice me. And I was very socially awkward.
I'm still socially awkward if I just let myself really be,
which is why I don't talk to people, because when
I approach people that I'm an admirer of or a fan,
I immediately have already played the conversation of me. I
have to rehearse sometimes, and this is one of the

(12:22):
first times I've ever talked about this. I have such
anxiety and never wanting to go back to the kid
that stutters and never want to be made fun of.
So when I talk to somebody a lot of time,
I know exactly, Hey, quest, I'm a fan, I know
such and such and such great, now I'm gonna go.
I don't even want a conversation to go any further.
Even if you said, Wayne, let's hang out, you play

(12:44):
your exit already, I'm already gone, because if I go,
then I have not given you an opportunity to either
go a fuck off kid or to want to talk
to me more. Then I actually have to stand there
and have a conversation with you and the vulnerable and
be vulnerable. So it's best for me to just dip out.

(13:06):
So that's why I say, like, when I can turn
that thing on, I know when I'm going on stage
in the room, I'm like, okay, tag Wayne, you're in,
and that Wayne can go in and get get the
job done.

Speaker 2 (13:16):
So okay, I'll ask you. This weekend, against my own will,
I went to a karaoke party.

Speaker 1 (13:22):
Now here's the thing that sounds like hell to me, right,
And that's the thing.

Speaker 2 (13:26):
All my friends were excited, But my friends don't make
a living going on stage to perform YEP, So I
said to them, karaoke is only fun when I hear
a car crash, like if everyone sings like bismarcky or
old dirty bastard.

Speaker 1 (13:43):
To me, karaoke's fun.

Speaker 2 (13:45):
But if I'm in a room with like nine people
and they're really trying to kill shit, like it's just
it's weird to me. Tell right now, the thing was,
it actually wound up being exactly but I wound up
enjoying myself anyway.

Speaker 1 (14:02):
Good. Maybe I had an adult fruits you. I don't know,
but it could be. Maybe maybe I had an adult
fruits YOUO.

Speaker 2 (14:11):
But I was explaining on the way home because they
were all worried about like my perception, like all right,
we know you hate these things in the mirror, but
did you have fun?

Speaker 1 (14:19):
Did you have fun? And I actually did have fun.

Speaker 2 (14:22):
But I was explaining to them that in doing my craft,
it's easy for me to do it in front of
like a thousand to five thousand to sixteen thousand people
because it's impersonal, right, But if I'm performing in a
room with just like ten people, I hate that, Like
I'll freeze.

Speaker 1 (14:42):
It's super exposed. Yeah, you are the most exposed, because
if you're doing something super intimate, then it's it's a microscope.
So do you hate fresh junkets? Once again, I let
the machine do it, you know, I let that part
of me take take over. I don't know anybody who
enjoys press junkets, but I know that I can do

(15:05):
them and get through them and have have the answers
I need, and on top of it, because I don't
want anyone to think that I'm being Disingenuinue. It's it's
not that I don't like these things, they just it
just it just causes me such stress to the point
of palpitations that I have to to this day, to
this very day. Oh damn. So I have to separate

(15:28):
and let the me that can do that do it.
And that guy, oh, he'll talk all day the press
and have an answer be this and he has fun
doing it. He has fun doing it. This Wayne still
can't have fun because I know what it's like to
open your mouth and have this thought. Oh I'm a
talk Oh shit, I can't do like. I know that

(15:52):
thought process that guy, and that's the thing that brings
me that So so over the course of my career,
I've learned, well not even career, just life. I've learned to, Hey,
this is you were going to be in this setting.
Now boop, okay, I'm there, and now you can leave.
My daughter makes fun of me because she says, Wayne,
you'd be friends with so many more people and celebrities

(16:15):
and folks that you work with if you weren't so
socially awkward and dipped out. I don't keep in touch
with anybody. So I'm there with you. Do you desire
to have?

Speaker 2 (16:29):
Like you know, I have a life coach or whatever
that's found the weakness of me, and that's being friends
with people I don't work with. And so I'm being
challenged by October to make friends with at least five

(16:50):
males is very specific, Yes to whom aren't on payroll
or work with. Now ninety five percent of the time,
I'm hanging with you with the roots, right, Like I
consider Steve one of my closest friends. I consider my
DJ manager Rue one of my closest friends, but they're

(17:10):
also on payroll, so it's like we're working together. But
I do find that I'm off. I'm very resistant to
people that have nothing to do with my life. Like
it's already bad. I got to remember seventy names of
just managers and co workers and that thing. So but

(17:31):
I'm being challenged to find five people that have nothing
to do with my life that I trust it.

Speaker 1 (17:38):
I'm struggling like a mavu. But I'm hard if you
can do that, not if, because I'm gonna give it
to you. That you're going to be able to do it.
But I can appreciate how that can be hard because
much like in dating, even friendships are all relationships, right,
so if things are if those relationships are done with
a common bond, I think it's hard for those of

(18:00):
us in a certain profession to you're gonna talk to
somebody else unless that person is a certain type of
person personality wise, what do you have in common? What
do you have? And that makes it hard, especially if
you are known, because then you have to ask yourself, well,
is that person being genuine in this interaction right now?

(18:22):
And so that is hard.

Speaker 2 (18:29):
There's one thing that I and this is gonna be
the weirdest example I'm gonna give of me breaking that
wall down. So I'm working on a project right now
that's basically requiring me to watch a lot of Norm
McDonald's material. And I've never seen a comedian embrace failure

(18:50):
the way that Norm McDonald was. And he revealed on
one of these podcasts that he was on they asked
him about he you know those roasts they do on
Comedy Central. So one time for Cloris Leachman, Norm McDonald
did probably one of the greatest displays of a roast

(19:11):
to Cloris Leachman, which was basically he decided he was
going to eat it, you know, because every comedian comes
there like all right, I gotta make a splash, I
gotta win. I gotta make sure that you know people
are going to social media clip like everyone's thinking met
and he decided, not only am I going to tank
this set, but he's going to tank in a way

(19:33):
that doesn't offer a wink, like you know, a guy
like Will Ferrell will purposely do something fucked up, but
it comes with the wink like I'm doing this on purpose,
calculate you know that I'm good, but this is kitch nah,
Like for twenty minutes, everything that Norm McDonald did was

(19:54):
from this joke book of nineteen forty, but like really
corny jokes. Hey, Cloris Leachman, you're like a bumblebee in August. Yeah,
because uh, you're wearing yellow. So watching Norm McDonald fell
like that in a Daredevil away almost gave me inspiration

(20:14):
to like, Okay, anything that's awkward. I'm just like Tracy
Morgan has that, but almost in a provocatory way, like
he'll say.

Speaker 1 (20:24):
Something uncomfortable and just living it. Knowing that it's awkward.

Speaker 2 (20:28):
But I think this year I've gotten over my will
people talk shit about me, that sort of thing, and
I'm like kind of enjoying doing things that previously would
have scared me.

Speaker 1 (20:41):
But I'd love to hear that. That's what I've started
to do too. In the past few years. I still
have that fear and that awkwardness, and my awkwardness is
so weird because I will like, I've known Bill for
years now, but I don't call Bill all the time.
I could call Bill, I could call Lynn, I could
any of our friends, but I have this story in

(21:02):
my head. I was like, no, he's probably busy. Why
would I don't want to bother anybody. So everybody's like, no, Wayne,
Wayne doesn't talk to anybody. And then so the person
that wants to be left alone really then goes, but
why doesn't anybody by me to a party? I want
to go to a questlove party. I want to go
to see if you said, But then it was like, oh, no,
I don't want to do so I decided to try

(21:24):
to stop that a couple of years ago, so I
was like, I'm not gonna do it anymore. So that's
why I've got to read a docu series that's on
Hulu and free Forms starting I think in June or July,
based on my family, and like, it's the first time
that I let people really into my life. And that's
why they see backstage. They see my blended family, you know,

(21:46):
they see every facet of my life because I wanted
to do something super uncomfortable. I'm like, the most uncomfortable
thing for me is to let people see me. But
on stage, I don't mind embracing failure. I love that
because that's part of the yes. And I love to
suck on stage and then flip it and turn it
around and do I'm a daredevil on stage and life

(22:09):
is where I'm very much I'm gonna play this safe
and put it down. So I've been trying to do
that myself and I found that in doing that, it's
made me an even better actor or a better improviser,
and to be able to take more chances, which I
thought I was taking chances before. Now I just don't care.
Now I really have reached a place where let's go.
I don't care. I'll do this thing.

Speaker 2 (22:30):
I don't care because as long as I do it,
and I feel good. That's what matters, all right. What
is your mourning routine? Like the first twenty to twenty
five minutes do.

Speaker 1 (22:46):
You have a morning?

Speaker 5 (22:47):
Ut?

Speaker 1 (22:47):
Easy? But I get up and I make my bed
first thing. Really I hate that?

Speaker 2 (22:54):
Why because you start with success, you complete we from
my reality. I feel like I just up so psychologically
that's important to do.

Speaker 8 (23:02):
Absolutely you start you and for me at the end
of the day, I like coming back to a room
that's made.

Speaker 1 (23:09):
You know what I mean? That does for me? That
does wonders.

Speaker 6 (23:12):
Does that come from somewhere? Like as a kid you
have to make your bed? Was that because I had
to make my bed as a kid, But for whatever reason,
as an adult, I find it to be Yeah. But yeah,
well like when I get up, Yeah, like when I'm
out of bed, Yeah, my first thing is me and
my wife.

Speaker 1 (23:25):
Yeah, we make the bed like that's just row pillows
and everything. The whole line. Smooth it because you set
I make my bed for two reasons. One, you set
an attention and I learned that in therapy years ago
about about if you the first place that you have
to start is your bed because then when you pull outwards,
if your bed, if your room, if your closet, if

(23:47):
your bathroom, if your house, if you so is your
house is your life. So if your house is messy,
then get my friends real fast. That's plus my dad.
You know, I come from a military household, so it
was also you know, not like in a great Santini way,

(24:07):
but like in a hey make your bed. That's how
you because that's what you do. You make your bed
and you leave your space clean, so that, like you,
I can come home at the end of a day
and I don't worry about it. I know that I
am in a weird place or I've spiraled if I
come home to a miss because I am I'm I'm so,
I'm so clean, I'm so clean. Making beds first, yeah, man,

(24:33):
I gotta well, I mean.

Speaker 3 (24:37):
Not before the first couple of cigarettes.

Speaker 1 (24:39):
Then you make the bed. Yeah, do you do you
smoke in bed? No?

Speaker 2 (24:44):
You don't say that's that's actually a cool movie scene.
Now that you say that, I mean, I hate to
say that. Even at this age, my crib like, if
left alone, my my room would look like a a
frat house. Hid it And I mean I'm not holding

(25:04):
shame back. Yes, I don't have time to do household chores.
So every other day I'll have the housekeeper in the crib.
But yeah, I do loathe getting home and seeing that
slobby bed that I didn't make. That's my lowest point
of life when I get home on those two days
that I did, I don't make my bed and I

(25:25):
just walk into it, you know, my pajamas on the floor.

Speaker 1 (25:28):
See, because it takes away from the things that you
did accomplish throughout the day. It takes you, yes, because
it's a small task. Because if you look at the
bed as a wind, right, so like we want to
start the day off with the wind. If the world
kicks me in the nuts when I leave the house,
at least I came back look at my bed. That
bed is so and I folded it. I tucked tucked

(25:48):
the edge there. And then I've got the military thing,
the thing I can bounce a coin, I've got the
throw pillows, fold a blanket, and then I leave it
on the edge. Like sometimes, come on, man, I love that.

Speaker 2 (26:00):
I got a confession. I'm so lazy with making up
the bed that I don't even sleep, you know, like
you know, to pull the covers back and get in
the bed and then like burrito yourself under the covers.
I'm so lazy, like I've been in my apartment for
sixteen years. To me one of my faith why are

(26:22):
you laughing at.

Speaker 1 (26:22):
Me, Steve like he's been so from laughing on the inside.
One of my favorite covers of all time.

Speaker 2 (26:33):
I mean, you ever go picnic like I go to
Target and get those like soft ass yes blankets like
basically put on top almosto a crasher, you know what
I mean. I've spent so much time like crashing in
the front lounge of the tour buster, crashing in the
back lounge of the tour bus, or so I'm not

(26:55):
a must be in bed type person, like where I
leave my hat is my home is where I sleep.
But even though I'll sleep in my bed, I mostly
sleep on my bed and we'll just grab my two
my rotation. I have like a rotation of ten of
those like blankets that I love. So you don't have

(27:16):
to make the bed really just because you just pulled
that on top.

Speaker 1 (27:19):
But it's still junky because look at me.

Speaker 2 (27:20):
Of course if I turn, if I turn once, and
even the that like my bed looks like half made,
so that's even worse, like it's basically six year old
version of a mirror is like of a made bed.

Speaker 1 (27:34):
So but it's a win, like that's the only reason
that that sticks in my head that that's a win.

Speaker 3 (27:40):
So do you do anything after you make the bed?

Speaker 6 (27:41):
Or is that the end?

Speaker 1 (27:42):
That's just? And I go back to, you know, make
the bed and then I brush my teeth. I call Mandy,
my ex wife, slash my business partner. I call her.
We catch up for the day. We have projects down
the pipeline. I check in with with my dog because
she goes to LMU, so I try to catch her

(28:03):
before she leaves leaves for school, and we get coffee,
we hang out, and then it's whatever craziness comes from
the rest of the day. But I have to start
my day off that way to give myself some sort
of a routine, because I need a routine the way
my mind works. If you leave me off the leash

(28:24):
and I don't have a routine, I'll get up. I'll
play video games till two o'clock in the afternoon. If
I don't have worker meetings, I will drink my sprite
or lemonade right out the bottle. Because I live by
myself I'll be in my underwear, I'll play my Xbox
until two, I'll get on the phone, I'll do I'll
basically be the sixteen year old version of myself if

(28:47):
he had an apartment in the poorhouse, in a job
of money and.

Speaker 2 (28:51):
Money yeah right, And even as a success, do you
still get on yourself if you're not.

Speaker 1 (28:58):
Get up and go daily daily? When I tell you,
how hard is it to take vacations and not do nothing?
Can I tell you something? And I'll share share this
with with all my brothers here. I'm so excited. When
I finished my run of the Whiz, I think I'm
out of the show, maybe June tenth. So you say
you all got to get your tickets to catch okay,
June tenth and then knock on wood and all this.

(29:20):
I hope to be here for the Tonys. Then I'm
gonna take the first trip. Now I'm fifty one years old.
I've never and I repeat, I've never, because there was
a point in my life when I went places with
my grandmother, but you know those are family trips. And
then when I was old enough to start working, then
I'm working in hustling. And then when when you get someplace.

(29:42):
Then I'm hustling, hustling, hustling, and still going. I've never
taken a trip in my life just for fun. I've
never gone. So when we finished, this same person, I'm leaving.
And that's the problem. I'm taking my trip on my
I'm taking an Eat Love Prey trip, Julie Robins, I'm
gonna do it. Do you know you're de the nations yet?
I've got a couple I think I may want to

(30:03):
go to I want to go to Thailand or Bangkok,
or I want to see Costa Rica, So it depends
on one of those, or Tokyo because I want to
go to one of the Disneylands. All right, if you
I got a hook up for you in Tokyo. Okay.
Maybe I've taken four forced vacations in my entire lifetime.

Speaker 2 (30:26):
Wow, Because the thing again, if you are in a
band and you're on the road two hundred days out
the year, like traveling is not my thing because that's
all I do, right, it's work, Yeah, like not doing
anything and just laying around being lazy in the house.
Like I just got used to that maybe a year
and a half ago. But when we first joined Fallon

(30:47):
everybody was like planning vacations, and I felt all bad.

Speaker 1 (30:50):
And I was like, well, all right, I want to
do something special. Oh, I know, I'll be a hobo.

Speaker 2 (30:55):
So then I got a train ticket from Pittsburgh and
traveled all the way across to San Francisco, like by train,
by yourself, by myself, and it was awesome.

Speaker 1 (31:06):
Now those four trips where they by yourself or with
a significant other family. The first time was by myself.

Speaker 2 (31:13):
And then I befriended Shep Gordon, who is the guy that,
like you want to know, the most connected guy, like
he was a rock star manager Luther vandros Rick James,
Alice Cooper and Murray like everybody. He kinda is your

(31:34):
portal to like if you're the guy that's an over worker,
doesn't prioritize life, he's the guy you want to know,
and he'll force you to take a vacation. So he
has like an open door policy in Hawaii. So the
other three times have been there.

Speaker 1 (31:48):
What I mean, that's the thing is I've never taken
a trip. So I'm going to take this trip by
myself because I'm single. So I'm like, I'm gonna go
by myself. I want to find myself. It's never too
late in life. And I've kind of adopted this mantra
of look, man, if you kill it on stage, and
I've made made some money and I've been in this
for a long ass time now. Before I leave this earth,

(32:10):
I want to have fun. I want to enjoy myself.
I think that my thing is I have not allowed
myself to enjoy anything, to take joy, to take joy
in which is which is that due blessing of? And
then we all have the thing. If you can bring
joy to people, and not to sound like the sad
clown shit, but you bring joy to people, that's been
my joy. I'm like, oh good that audience like that great,

(32:32):
I'm good. Or I took care of my family, y'all
are straight good. If I go to the karaoke party,
I want to make sure that everybody the karaoke party
is cool. And I'm just gonna sit back here because
if you guys are cool, but I have no joy
in any of those things that have happened. Oh you're
not a You're not expected to sing at any karaokee party.
Come on, no, no thank you, no no thank you.

(32:54):
Because I don't look like an asshole. I don't want
to that's pecause you don't want to flex that you're
because we do it for real. As soon as you
get up there and do it, then it's like cook
at home. See all right?

Speaker 2 (33:09):
Oh no, I'm definitely if you didn't plan it yet.
I got people who have done solo trips and they're
they're the best planners ever.

Speaker 7 (33:19):
Panna love vacations. Date in the hotels, they make the
bed for you. You don't have to do that in
the morning.

Speaker 1 (33:29):
Would you believe me if I have stopped the maid
from making my bed because because I think I can
do it better. I can make my bed better than.

Speaker 2 (33:38):
I'm stuck with people that want to clean the house
first before the person comes in to clean it, or
clean the hotel room.

Speaker 1 (33:45):
Yo, those people that's me.

Speaker 8 (33:47):
Wait you yeah, man, because I think it's just a
part of like you can't y'all ain't about to see
me living like this. It's a pride thing, you know
what I'm saying. Surprised, Like when I go to the
dnnist like mid like the day before I.

Speaker 1 (34:04):
Go to another dentist to get the cleaning that's primary dentist.
It's like double dentist.

Speaker 2 (34:11):
I like that, Yeah, like it what time do you
go to sleep? How many hours do you get? What
time did you go to sleep? Sleep time?

Speaker 1 (34:22):
If I'm on my game and my mental health is
on point, then back in La, I try to be
in bed now by like ten thirty so that I
can get up at six. I had to train train
myself because I've got to feed my dogs, and and
i was taking my daughter to school, and I never
got out of the habit of when I was taking
her to high school, So so I was up at
six promptly. Now I have a hard time. I really

(34:44):
don't go to sleep maybe until one one, one thirty,
and then I get up at at six. Still.

Speaker 2 (34:52):
Yeah, yeah, to rewarm me about that and said, because
you know, I think there's the thing like once you
get out of high school, you think that part of
your life is over. Like now live a life where
I'm always on the first flight. So I am waking
up at four in the morning. But you know, Tarik's like,
you think you're done the routine of the dread of school.

(35:15):
But He's like, when you become a parent, it becomes
worse because you got to be up before they are
up and prepare stuff for them and make sure they
get dressed.

Speaker 1 (35:25):
And don't make them. That's then then you're shitty parent
who hasn't made their bed. Ye all the way around.

Speaker 2 (35:38):
So quancy Jones explained this whole idea of alpha time
to us. Alpha state, alpha state, there's there's five states
that your brain's in alpha, beta, uh, gamma data, and
in delta.

Speaker 1 (35:54):
Yes those yes, actually you're being sarcastic, but no the.

Speaker 3 (35:58):
Answers, I'm assuming it's our beta delta ga, yeah.

Speaker 1 (36:03):
Yeah, one more so, nice job, sugar.

Speaker 2 (36:05):
I'm all right, at what time, Because creativity is such
a major anchor for you, at what time do you
feel like is your most creative moment.

Speaker 1 (36:20):
Right as I'm going to sleep. It's right as I'm
going to sleep. So many things have come to me
in my sleep that I immediately get up and I
have to write it down or I text the person
that I'm doing the thing with. Those are the times
that's when I feel the most fruitful. Is when I
should be sleeping. But my mind is fueled by don't suck,

(36:42):
don't fail. You'll go broke, your family, get thrown on
the street, You'll be horrible, better I'm fight is with
me all the damn times I wake up like this.
This idea will keep you in your house. This will
be a good one. That is crazy. Okay, that's the
So what is your go to order at Starbucks? It

(37:06):
is a caramel oat milk latte with four pumps of
caramel inside, caramel around the rim. You should probably get
some caramel. Oh see your caramel, Cara caramel, I see sugar.
You're from a different place than I am, so so

(37:29):
needless to say. I don't like coffee, but I like
sweet stuff, so you know we are the same person.
I hate that I've been saying sugar. I will dround
it in sugar into and everything else because I do
like that. Once again, eighty AHD is real, like I
don't know for for you know, folks, I never believed
in it, but I understand now and I'm my medication

(37:51):
the whole nine. I get why coffee doesn't work on me.
I get why sugar does. I get why those things
and the mood things. So so I'm trying to wean
myself off of that. But I love Starbucks in the morning,
and you will not believe me. You can ask my
daughter the one who calls me socially awkward. She for years,
for years, I've said, you know, I think that Amir

(38:12):
and I would be friends because.

Speaker 3 (38:16):
He's looking for friends.

Speaker 1 (38:19):
See you doing your thing or or an interview where
you talk about the songs and the movies you said
and said, that's my fun, humba, what the hell does so?
But I'll never call you. So you guys, are your
kids roots are and stuff? Are you? My daughter's a
musician and she knows, Oh she knows what's up for real? Yeah, yeah, yeah,

(38:41):
that's yeah. Well thanks, No, I believe it too. I
would normally avoid all right. I did have a theory. Good.

Speaker 2 (38:49):
I had a theory which was I'm mostly afraid of
approaching people from my same ilk, okay, because I always
think that I bring the value down.

Speaker 1 (39:02):
Okay.

Speaker 2 (39:02):
So there was someone that was that was sort of
in it. We were kind of in a similar bucket
together and on the critical angle, this person got panned
in a way that was a little humiliating, you know
what I mean. I mean, it wasn't a takedown article,
but it's something that they were passionate about and they

(39:23):
got panned. And I knew about it, and as a
person who always prioritized.

Speaker 1 (39:31):
A record review or any review, a concert review.

Speaker 2 (39:35):
I wanted this person to not take it so serious,
but I almost felt like I either overextended, like I
felt this person felt that I was judging.

Speaker 9 (39:49):
Them in terms of like, oh, yeah, encouraging them, right,
you saw me at my lowest, Yeah, you saw me
their thing, so they they have an issue, right, and
so we were close.

Speaker 2 (40:02):
And then in order for this person to turn there,
they had to like sort of rebrand themselves. And I
think hanging with me was bad for the brand, because
what world is hanging with you bad for the brand?
It's hilarious, but I you know, but I also know
there's a lot of that, like a lot of a

(40:24):
lot of you as what I saw in that person.
And now that you're saying this stuff, now I'm not
taking a person like, oh, they didn't want to hang
because I just think it is a socially awkward thing
or whatever. But now I'm desperate to gather the tribe
together to let us all know like, okay, we kind
of need each other, Like this is the longest I've
gone without a movement, like even the myth of the

(40:48):
soul Aquarians.

Speaker 1 (40:49):
But there was a good.

Speaker 2 (40:52):
Eight year period where I'm yeah, my daily interaction was
with di'angelo and Erica and Most and Dyla and even
the even the outside circle like Tip and dead Press
and Blow and like we were we actually lived up
to the myth.

Speaker 1 (41:12):
Of what people thought we were.

Speaker 5 (41:13):
Wow.

Speaker 2 (41:14):
And then the day we found out, the day that
someone gave the marketing away, I eve that Vibe magazine
photo of all of us, That's the day it went
to shit. And ever since then, I've just I've never
gone this long without like just somebody to bounce off of,
like Common and I I mean, I I guess I
can give it away so Common. I'm not gonna say

(41:38):
any day now, but Common's basically.

Speaker 1 (41:42):
What I predict.

Speaker 2 (41:43):
He's probably gonna drop the LP that his fan base
has really been waiting on. So he went to do
a project with Pete Rock. Wow, and they just hold
themselves in this studio together, like you know, in Pete
Rock's basement and.

Speaker 1 (42:06):
No lie like wrote each other to glory.

Speaker 2 (42:08):
Like I think that most Common fans will say, like
this is gonna be his best, like of his eleven albums,
this will be in the top five, like.

Speaker 1 (42:20):
That sort of thing.

Speaker 2 (42:20):
Like this is gonna be somewhere between and I'm talking
about like and I'm talking about like resurrection one day.
It all makes sense fans like pre chocolate common like
this is he made that. He made a nineteen ninety
six record where you know, Pete Rock all his scratch
references are either going to be like this or yes,

(42:41):
indeed right.

Speaker 1 (42:43):
And so I kind of came in just on.

Speaker 2 (42:46):
I came in on the eleventh hour just to like
Rosh wanted me to come in and give it the
like water for chocolate treatment. So I had to put
the songs in order and the interludes and all that stuff.

Speaker 1 (42:56):
So this is gonna feel this is like and just
an amazing thing.

Speaker 2 (43:02):
So this is like the most talking and interaction and
idea of bouncing that he and I have done since
like two thousand and four. And I just like I
missed that level of camaraderie, you know, like I like
growing and you know I've done food stuff and books
and but.

Speaker 10 (43:22):
See, he's not a good friend. You should reconsider the
does stay in touch with people anyway? Seven what is
your favorite junk food of all time?

Speaker 1 (43:33):
Damn, my favorite junk food of all time? If you're
talking candy, because I really don't eat candy, but you're
talking to candy. Peanut eminem's, specifically the peanut eminem's, because
I crack them open, I take off the top and
I take out the through layers and take out the
nut and then I just got it and I'll just
throw away the chocolate. Sometimes weird whoa what? Because I

(43:59):
like how the peanut takes disc with the chocolate. I
like it's infused, but I don't like all of the
chocolate that's on the thing. Someone how it tastes. I
want to see how influenced you are.

Speaker 2 (44:09):
Do you remember there was an mm's commercial, like maybe
in the late seventies in which this guy, it's like
a magician guy and he gets an M and M
and he he takes it out and it's another color
and then he breaks the minem Like do you remember
that commercial?

Speaker 1 (44:29):
I absolutely remember what you're talking about.

Speaker 2 (44:30):
So I also, I think it's a waste to take
eminem's and just eat them straight.

Speaker 1 (44:37):
Because there's so much there. It's a little gift. So
let me find out, y'all. K cat a kit cat? Now,
how do you do your cat? What's your cat? You're
like French, you have to break break it open to
get the layers. I don't eat it like I.

Speaker 2 (44:58):
Did the chocolate first, and then once the cookie is
left and.

Speaker 1 (45:01):
I eat the cookie. Yes, yeah, yeah, like I take it,
take it, take it aside chocolate and now it can
eat the cookie because they just eat the whole thing.

Speaker 3 (45:09):
Do you like the Japanese kick casts?

Speaker 1 (45:11):
Like the Lion of Japan is amazing.

Speaker 2 (45:18):
There's this spot in Brooklyn that I recommend. There's there's
a there's a Japanese uh kind of supermarket in Williamsburg
that has like ghost pepper kit cats, uh Green Tea
kit cats, strawberry kit casts, like all the kits cats
that you will find in Tokyo. Oh, there's a ghost

(45:39):
pepper tags Yo.

Speaker 1 (45:41):
It's crazy. It's like, are you even meant to enjoy that?
It's just like.

Speaker 2 (45:44):
It's a challenge of surviving. My favorite thing is going
on YouTube and looking up. You remember when that one
potato chip that's allegedly supposed to put you like in
the ground, like it's it's one ghost pepper chip. But
you know, people do the tasting challenge and then there's
normal it's not hot to me and then five minutes later,
they're like writing their will out.

Speaker 1 (46:06):
We did it during the pandemic. And when I say we,
wasn't me, it's Mandy's. I didn't do it. Mandy's partner, Jason.
He did it because we were bored. It was the
freaking you know, we're locked in the house. He's like, oh,
this is I love hot stuff. And I'm like, are
you sure? Oh? Fine, And then I saw that man

(46:32):
devolve from into milk and water and then crying, and
then the pukan and the crying some more and then
some more milk. I was like, yeah, so I'm very
well acquainted with that ship.

Speaker 2 (46:46):
Wait, what food is your hometown famous for.

Speaker 1 (46:51):
I'm gonna say that I don't know on this one
because I was raised in Orlando, Florida. I'm I'm from Orlando,
so I don't really. I don't think Orlando has a
culture life raised in Alando. I was raised in Orlando.
What is it like to grow up in a.

Speaker 2 (47:06):
Kind of yeah, in the town where like everything's a
amusement park.

Speaker 1 (47:12):
Well, when I was coming up, it wasn't really that
way yet that so many things were were focused around
Disney because Orlando was a smaller town. But the first
thing that folks didn't know is that or Orlando has hoods, right,
So so you have the places where you think, oh, Disney,
that are if this is Disney. There's a ring and

(47:32):
there's a place called Simi, you know. So so you're
either a redneck that you live out here, or you're
very wealthy Windermere Bayhill, all these places where, you know,
once the basketball team came came in, and Disney and
engineers and folks with money, and then out here you
had my my place, TAngelo Park or Carver Shores, basically

(47:53):
any place that was named after a president or a
or a citrus fruit. It was all black. And so
my experience growing up was very different from I guess
someone that might be growing up there now because there
was such a division.

Speaker 2 (48:08):
Of so he didn't have a fresh off the boat
experience new version of Orlando.

Speaker 1 (48:12):
No, because theirs was slightly after mine. So the strip
malls started in like the late eighties, early nineties. I
was already a teenager at that point. But when I
watched Fresh off the Boat when he would go to
the Florida Mall, That's where I used to go when
I was you know, like sixteen, so it started to
get better then. So I don't think that we really

(48:33):
had a cultural food. Orlando's not known for anything really.
Its identity is kind of want Want. Did you ever
work at Disney or absolutely? Yeah. Started off as a
character because my whole dream was to be a Kid
of the Kingdom, which was one of the singer dancers
that would sing and dance out in front of the castle.
So my way in was I auditioned for the Disney

(48:54):
Christmas Parade and I got cast as a toy soldier
and then I trained as a character, but that was
merely so I could get in the park and audition
as a singer and a dancer. So I did that
for about six months. And a weird side side note,
Jennifer Lopez's ex ex husband Chris Judd was my was
my best friend, so we like back in the day,
we danced together and the whole thing before he became

(49:15):
a janet dancer and became a successful choreographer. So I
worked at Disney at that point, and then I finally
got cast to to do a show called Rap and
Roll where I was going to be the lead singer.
It was like this is it and then I'm gonna
do da da. And then I came in on my
day off because Chris didn't want to mess up his
hair and put on a Tigger outfit. And long story

(49:36):
made short, I got involved in Someone accused Tigger of
pinching their kid. I was like, I can't pinch your
kid because I got on and I got into it
with this supervisor, so I think it was a whole thing.
She tried to bully her way to the front of
the line, and as Tiger, I was like and and
and say. She's like, I'm gonna ticker, kicker. Do you

(49:57):
know who I am? Was like, nope, I don't know you.
I don't give a shit. So then she's like, we'll
see Ticker, We'll see. But two, I get called into
the supervisor's office. Wayne, We've had a report that a
child was pinched, that you pinched him and you stopped
him from getting in line. It's like, that didn't happen.

(50:20):
What happened was this other supervil. I'm afraid that we're
gonna have to put you on leave, and you know
that that's just code for as soon as you go
on leave. And I was so pitiful. All I wanted.
Was that one job in that wrap and roll show?
I said, I said, but but, but, holding the tears back,
But but but tell tell me something. Please, If if
I go on leave and you do your investigation, will

(50:42):
I still be able to start rehearsals on Monday? Oh
no No, So I lost out on that chance. So
I did work at Disney. But then getting fired from
there was a blessing. Fire from your dream job. It
was a blessing because then I got hired at Universal
and I did every show a Universal, the Beatlejuice Rock
and Roll Show and all this stuff, and that gave
me enough money to head out of Orlando. Fast forward

(51:04):
years later when I got Who's line. I was part
of this Disney parade experience and they fly you down.
You know what they do, They do it big. It's amazing.
The person who was assigned a guide, the person who
was assigned as my guid when I got into the park, Hello, Wayne,
It's name redacted because I don't want embarrass her again
because I've told the story before. She's like, Wayne, We're

(51:28):
so proud of you. I went and I turned to Mandy.
I was like, Mandy, remember that story I told you
about when I was sixteen. I'm petty as hell. Remember
that story. This is the lady who had me fired.
She's like, oh it was like, yes, Oh, it's so
great to be back.

Speaker 3 (51:47):
Wow.

Speaker 1 (51:48):
Lead us on show me the park. Wow, sweet, I
love it.

Speaker 3 (51:53):
That's Sweetavenge, I love it.

Speaker 1 (51:57):
That is so crazy? Are you tigers were a bit? Well?
I was gonna ask.

Speaker 2 (52:06):
Because for those that follow succession on the pilot, cousin
Greg had to go through that where you know, kids
are and that's the thing I don't think about, like
how kids can torment you when you're in those costumes
and want to kick you and all those things.

Speaker 1 (52:24):
The stories I have Oh really?

Speaker 2 (52:27):
So oh yeah, you think that's just gonna be a
thing like your Mickey So to be Mickey Mouse or
something like, you gotta have literally balls of steel.

Speaker 1 (52:39):
Yeah, because you punched and kicked. And at least for me,
I really enjoyed the job because for me, it was
an opportunity to work on my improvisation. So I would
come up with scenarios and talk to the other characters
before we went out onto Main Street or wherever your
set was and say, hey, so so in this one,
you find find a tourist, and my job is I'm

(53:01):
the secret Service, so I'm gonna protect her. Your your
job is you're trying to assassinate her. So we would
spend the whole set acting these things out, and so
I was using it for that. So I liked it.
Even though kids would pull on the PVC pipe tail
because the tigertail used to be strapped with a little

(53:21):
belt around your back, and it's a PVC pipe, it's curved,
and kids would go, oh okay, and it was a dip,
so kids would either jump in the dip and sit
on it, and you can't see anything because your world
is here. Your world is here, and so you can't
see if a kid is like take it, take it
and you look and you fall back and you bust
your ass, or they take the tail and they crank

(53:43):
it and they either break it. So sometimes to clear
a path. Occasionally if they were grabbing onto me, I
would reach back, excuse me, and just keep it moving
and just keep Sometimes you'd have to do that not
to hurt and hurt anybody. But just like the door,
the door stopped.

Speaker 2 (54:10):
What television show are you currently binging?

Speaker 1 (54:15):
Currently? I'm binging the Gentleman on Netflix. Guy Richie is
the genial like it. I like it.

Speaker 2 (54:22):
I'm nervous because I feel like, if you got to
put your name.

Speaker 1 (54:25):
In the title, it's better than the movie. And I
like the movie. But but it depends on if you
like Guy Richie because he has a thing, right, So
I like Guy Ritchie. It's written really well, the cast
is awesome. It's yeah, it's it's it's great. I love it.
So I'm binging that. And and I just binged Invincible

(54:47):
because because I'm also animation, that's invincible. Invincible what is it?
It's super violent, like it's based on you know The Boys, right, yeah, so,
so it's still in that same world of these superheroes,
but Invincible. His father is from another planet, Vimite a Vitrumite.

(55:07):
He's like Superman. So think of Superman, powerful man, like
the most powerful dude, and everybody loves him. Everybody loves him.
He's also a member of this league, the Guardians of
the Globe. Everybody loves him. He's the most powerful guy
in the world. Blah blah blah. Come to find out, Well,
I don't want to spoil it. Well, it's not really
really a spoiler because you look it up. He really

(55:28):
the Vitromites really there. Their whole thing is domination. So
he was sent there to Earth to take over one
Victromite and take over the whole planet. So he impregnated
a human, fell in love with her, and was waiting
for their son, who now is a teenager and upon
his sixteenth birthday. So dads, just like, do you have powers? Yet?
You have powers? The empowers? You have powers, and the
powers happened. He's like, you've got powers. So you think

(55:49):
it's a coming of age story of this boy Mark
who is coming into his own greatest American hero style. Oh,
I can't fly, wobble everything. And then it turns into
great son, You've got your powers. Time to kill everybody.
He runs ragged through The Guardians image animated, Yes, anime

(56:13):
based on the the graphic novel the comic, and it's
on Amazon, Amazon Prime Video. It's amazing, all right, I
am on it. I will watch that. What other non
musical jobs have you had in your life? Well, well,
I haven't had a lot, but they were formative for

(56:35):
a couple of months because I wanted the discount. I
worked at a place called KB toy stores. I don't know.
I worked at KB. A friend of mine from a
high school named Kenny. Shout out to Kenny got me
the job there. It was right after high school, and
I was working at Disney part time. But it was
right after high school, and my mom made me get

(56:58):
a civilian job because she didn't leaving the acting thing.
And I'd already turned down a few scholarships to a
bunch of schools and the opportunity to audition for like
the Yale School of Drama and a bunch of other stuff,
because I said, no, I just want to do this,
and I was hard headed. I hated school. I said
I want to do this. I got great grades. Buy
him out, she said, And my folks are from the
US Virgin Islands, you know, so island folks. She was like.

(57:20):
If she didn't time from St. Thomas and Saint Croix, damn,
I used to live in Frenchman's Reef oh long ago. Yeah.
I got family there. I got family. So so I
was like, well, then you get a job, whether then
you're going to take it as and get a job,
and you're gonna go to school pot the pot time
until something happened. So I said, okay, fine. I worked
at KB toy store because there was also I forget
that's when the Nintendo first came out. So I was like,

(57:44):
all right, I worked there. Kenny got me the job.
I work there, and I'll get the discount and maybe
I can do it. But there was a buddy of
mine who I have to admit, for ten seconds, I
had a larcenous thought. He was like, yo, you work
at KB. Come that new Nintendo wid You ain't coming. Now.

(58:05):
What you can do is do you do the stock? Yeah,
you do the stock. You dropped that ship around back,
dropped two of them ships. I'm gonna go around back.
I'll pick them up. You you claim it as a loss,
as a theft, Like, no, I'll give a bit of that.
That's insurance. I said, that's what insurance. I almost did it.

(58:25):
I got the job so I can get the discount.
And then I had a thought about taking a Nintendo.
Never took it, dude, couldn't get a Nintendo. Didn't happen,
but I felt so bad that I told Kenny it's like, look, man,
I can't work here because I think if I stay
here like another week, I might steal a Nintendo. Now
I'm just being real, I might take it because I'm broke.
So you were there for Nintendo, I was there, it

(58:48):
was later. I was there for the Tickle Me l molds, right,
the same story. That's hilarious.

Speaker 8 (58:53):
It was that it was insanity, bro Yeah it was Yeah,
that shit was crazy, man.

Speaker 1 (58:58):
It was South squareballing Daryl, Wow Baby Toys.

Speaker 2 (59:01):
Someone gifted me a Tickle Me Elmo this year for
my fifty third birthday.

Speaker 1 (59:06):
They still make it no, you know.

Speaker 3 (59:09):
Like between Wayne and that you only need two more friends.

Speaker 2 (59:14):
We are closing the gap, I mean great Frog. Yeah,
it was a very random gift to give me. But
this person is like a vintage toy collector or whatever.
And oh remember it's like some posts I put on
an OK Player, like back in two thousand and one,
two thousand and two. Whatever about tickle Me Elmo and someone.

Speaker 1 (59:31):
That's gotta be worth something now, it'd be worth something now. Yeah,
they they went all out for this one KB. And
the other job is I worked at at a place
called Malibu Grand Prix and Video Games, not Malibu here
but in Orlando, which basically means nothing. Because it was
just to make make it sound fancy. So I cleaned

(59:51):
the bathrooms, I made hot dogs and hamburgers and fries,
and I checked the video games and I serviced them.
What do I know about servicing video games? And I
would give you tokens if your tokens were lost insurance insurance.
I'd be the guy that now that one, that one scam.

(01:00:14):
One did have a system scam. We're like twenty odd
years like more like that that was in the great
spirit is going yeah, so so yeah, so customer, Oh
you know, I lost two coins and zus it's like, oh,
you did four, thank you, and then then you have

(01:00:34):
coins to pay. Okay, you mentioned video games earlier. Man,
what's you run? What's what's what's you run? Right now?
Call of Duty Modern Warfare three. I'm on a team.
We're not very good. So I spend most of my
time playing playing zombies and uh and I played Destiny
on my PS five and I've just gone back to

(01:00:55):
old school Halo. You first person shooter? Oh, first person shooter?
All day? All right? Do you journal? Not like I should?
I'll start to and then it's too much, like I
don't want to write down all of my thoughts, so
I don't want folks to know. But instead of journaling,

(01:01:17):
I do voice notes. If you check my phone in
that voice note app, I've got all these voice notes.

Speaker 2 (01:01:22):
That it's my that is my audio journal and unknown
like do you are you too lazy? I'm too lazy
to mark.

Speaker 1 (01:01:30):
I trust the fact that if it's a song idea,
I'll be like great, and they'll say Santa Monica Hills
eleven thirty or like oh yeah, that was two weeks ago.
I was on the showers, so that'll be this one.
That's why they do that. Okay.

Speaker 6 (01:01:44):
Also, he doesn't text. He just he sends long voice
memos to you. So if you send him a text,
he'll respond with a really long voice.

Speaker 1 (01:01:51):
Memo or a video because texting is I'm like, I
don't hey, hey hates me? What's what's your prefer form
of communication? Texting? Calling or face time? FaceTime and and
voice memos? Face time? All right?

Speaker 2 (01:02:08):
That means you have kids, because I feel like FaceTime
was really invented for your kids and for hookups spouses
to prove.

Speaker 1 (01:02:18):
Where they are spouse's proof, and for hookups. Let me
see you see your face okay, huh oh click, all right?

Speaker 2 (01:02:34):
Who is your best celebrity impression.

Speaker 1 (01:02:37):
Oh wow, off the top of my head. I can't
think because I know I do do some, but they
come up in the moment. Okay, I'll do one that
I guarantee you that no one on your show has
ever done. I have a super unique impression. This is
an impression of if you've ever seen Mary Poppins, it's

(01:02:58):
an impression of her own cool, the one that would
float away. Now do you guys know who I'm talking
You're talking about in the movie. Now on top of that,
just picture me in my hood, which is why I
think I kept my mouth shut because I got tired
of fighting folks my weird ass. That's the stuff that

(01:03:19):
I was watching. And Kats are watching Star Skin Hutch
and I want to talk about Mary Poppins or Masterpiece Theater.
So so this is and Alison, I'm alistair dude. I Caesar,
the Julius Caesar thing and upstairs downstairs changed my life.
That that's where I learned to do a British accent.
And okay, so so I digress. So this is the impression,

(01:03:41):
boys and girls, if you haven't seen Mary Poppins, just
just fast forward to this. The only brother, who does
this impersonation?

Speaker 5 (01:03:48):
All right?

Speaker 1 (01:03:49):
Hit me? Thank you?

Speaker 3 (01:03:56):
Wow?

Speaker 1 (01:04:01):
How did you know you had that one? Anyway, it's
because of improv right, Like I never got asked the
impressions before whose line or something? But when you get
thrown something all of a sudden, you realize, oh, I've
got that in my back pocket. Yeah yeah youah backflipp
once Now I tried for for the Whiz. I was like, whoop,
didn't work out? Why is Wayne not in the show?
Long story? Were you a Monty Python? I go at

(01:04:24):
all did you? Did you? Yes? Monty Python came in
my mind. It was like a junior year when I
started hanging out with all of the white kids in
the drama department. Yeah, and I discovered Monty Python on
PBS Monty Python and another Bent Towers, Benny Hill, Faulty Towers.
There was a sketch group called the Goodies, and that's

(01:04:46):
where I learned a lot about sketch and an absurdist
humor from from watching Monty Python. Where you you to
your sketchy missed the show? Did you all day? Okay?

Speaker 2 (01:04:56):
Dude?

Speaker 3 (01:04:57):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (01:04:57):
Can I tell you all right? Four days ago.

Speaker 2 (01:05:02):
Was David Cross's sixtieth birthday, and they organized a live
Mister Show reunion across Odin Kirk like the main the
main five of the show. They just got on stage
and just and it wasn't even planned.

Speaker 1 (01:05:18):
But do you know if it's true because I kind
of know this guy's name, but I forget I did
a show with him once years and years ago before.
Who's line called uh called quick Wits based out out
of Chicago. There's one guy who was in the Mister
Show cast, so I forget his name. So if you
know the Mister Show line up, tall dark haired guy,

(01:05:39):
the real tall one, real tall. He was supposedly right,
like I'm saying, allegedly because this was what was going
around and they posted his picture he was at January sixth. What. Yes,
that's why I say, that's why we got to look
that up because I'm not said because I don't want

(01:05:59):
to go everything. It's like, well, Wayne Brady said, assume me.
You know what yo? I read that in Huffington Post. Yes,
maybe three weeks ago or a month ago or something
like that. Because they are right, because they're persecuting all
of those cats like they they're actually going through the
rolodex and I remember being so shocked because you know,
in our little world of arts and actors and singers

(01:06:23):
were liberal and we love and so we're so foreign
to know that I sat down and broke bread with
and we made funny and said stupid jokes together would
be at the capitol like burn it down. I was like,
what does that have to do with the jokes you
made on mister show.

Speaker 2 (01:06:39):
Wow in air quotes one of the projects I'm working on,
like all, the common denominator of all the projects I'm
working on is all my interview subjects are like over
the age of seventy five, And some of them will
stick to the subject for which I'm asking them, and
then some will somehow use the question i'm asking to

(01:07:02):
pivot into other areas. That one particular guy was just
burning to let me know that, you know, when I
started blah blah blah blah blah, Yeah, you know, I was.
I was a liberal Democrat, but you know, after so
many years of making fun of Ronald Reagan, then suddenly boom,
like you know, I'm proud to say I'm maga and

(01:07:24):
all this stuff and just it just it when he's
super rogan. I was like, No, I just wanted to know, like,
did you like grilled cheese sandwich?

Speaker 1 (01:07:36):
Well? I liked him when America was great. Yeah, that's
when I liked it. Tasted so much better. Nobody ever
burnt their toast that wasn't black. Yes, sneaking across the border,
trying to jump in my soup, making racist analogies to food,

(01:07:56):
any reason to go there? Yeah? So, what, in your opinion,
is the best cereal of all time? Easy cinnamon toast crunch.
But now it is here?

Speaker 2 (01:08:11):
Here is my Wait, you're a Semon tooa'st crunch guy.
I love cinnamon toa seach everyone that I asked this
question to. For me, there's two generations of the seventies.
I'm a seventy one guy, so I feel like i'm
the I'm seventy two, right, so you're supposed to be
on my side of the fence. Every Semon Toast crunch
guy person I know is post seventy six, Like, well,

(01:08:33):
what's your cereal? I'm a Captain crunch person. Okay, not
crunch berries, just captain. Oh really, I'm peanut butter. Captain
crunch peanut butter. Okay, see you said the best.

Speaker 1 (01:08:42):
Now if you would have said, Wayne, what's your pantheon
of cereals? I would have said, that's a big word.
They like stand up up here would have said cinnamon
toast crunch. I feel seen because I love the hack
that I eat cinnamon toast crunch with with with lucky

(01:09:02):
charms or sugar frosted. Oh, I mixed cereals. You feel
like a genius. All of the cereals that my mom
either couldn't get me or couldn't afford. I made the
decision when I moved out of the house at the
age of twenty, I will always buy my cereals. I
have a cereal thing open. I can open you see

(01:09:27):
what's happening to do all I want to do? Man,
this this this old Jacob and saw in the in
the good years. Is incredible that before they went down
here before the tiff, right right before this, can you know?
And there and you need to find the third brother
a friend Snap Peanut butter Captain Crunch. It's the best

(01:09:52):
one because of how it made the milk. I couldn't
eat crunch beerries because it was too much of it
was too much of a berry taste. So I like
to mix all of the cereals. We're the same person, man.

Speaker 2 (01:10:02):
Like when I first started touring, the Beastie Boys taught
me everything about touring and so at Rock and Mike
d taught me how to like give them a rider
ride give it to you. And they told me, like,
when you get a writer, make sure you get toothbrush
and toothpastes. Every city, always get a liquid soap. Get Like,
they told me everything to get, and they said especially

(01:10:25):
ask for like food items that aren't backstage food stuff
so you can eat on the tour bus. And dude,
the level like I now know how I ballooned up
to four hundred and thirty pounds back in the day
is because I would come home with at least seventy
boxes of cereal intact, Like I just I took it

(01:10:47):
to the wrong level.

Speaker 1 (01:10:49):
So that's what I call being grown, is the fact
that I can eat whatever cereal that I want to.
That is such a joy, that joy. Yep. Wow?

Speaker 2 (01:10:59):
All right, can you name me your childhood bully?

Speaker 1 (01:11:06):
Wow? That? Yes, these are random questions.

Speaker 2 (01:11:11):
This is good.

Speaker 1 (01:11:12):
This is good, okay, because I always get caught up
in do you say names? Because you don't want folks
to get mad but I'm not saying you know what,
I'm not saying anything that isn't true, and it's my
recollection you don't want to name.

Speaker 3 (01:11:23):
He's gonna come kick yours.

Speaker 1 (01:11:25):
No, not now, not now. We're both too old to
be fighting. B I'm strong as hell, and see I
got lawyers, so d fuck y'all. So so so yeah,
Actually this is a two part question. Okay. The real
question is talk ship to your child of bullies for

(01:11:46):
ten seconds.

Speaker 5 (01:11:48):
Yo.

Speaker 1 (01:11:52):
All right, So it depends on Okay, so physic. I
wrote this whole story that I've done on stage stage
about one girl named named Tisa, and I don't believe
that she she's no longer with us, So I'm not
speaking ill of the dead. I'm just no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,
no no, not Tisa. Nicki named Nicki.

Speaker 5 (01:12:12):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (01:12:13):
She lived had a corner. Tisa lived across from me,
Tisa Grady lived in the other house, and uh and
Niki lived over here. Nicki was one of those girls
that she was just an exceptionally tall girl at an
early age, but even when we were teenager, she was
still I was like, oh you you are bigger than me,

(01:12:33):
and did so for whatever reason, I didn't fit into
this this one thing, and it was popular to make
fun of me because I had my grandparents accent and
so and yeah and so. At that point, the Jamaicans
and Haitians were coming over to Florida, and so they
would sing the uh oh, Wayne, you're Jamaic make and

(01:12:54):
I was like, I'm not Jamaican about Jamaica. Funk, that's
what and do all this ship and add out fighting
and blah blah blah. Know, the best way to make
a bully happy is to talk back, so they have
and excuse to fight you. Nicki was a bully. I'm
not saying Nicki was a bad person. We were kids.
I will say that, Hey, it's okay, y'all were kids.
Nicki would fight me becuz, hey, I'm gonna pick on

(01:13:16):
the smaller kid because I was also small form age
until to land'm like growth spurt. So she would like
to fight me until the day when she chased me
up into my yard into my door. Mama Mama let
me in, and my grandmother looked outside. She said, no, Wayne,
what's wrong with you? Mama? Nicki's fighting me. He said,
you run back outside and you beat to us. So

(01:13:39):
I was like, and up until that point, they never
hit a girl. You don't fight, it's beneath you don't fight,
blah blah blah. But now she's telling me to fight.
So that was the first time that I got and
I took a stick and the fight ended. Because I'm
so glad that, yeah, because I'm not good because even

(01:14:00):
in real life, who anybody's like, come on, bro, I
got if you are threatening my life, then we need
to end it quickly so I can go back to
my family. So Nikki bullied me. We had an issue.
There was a dude named Anthony. Anthony also bullied me.

Speaker 8 (01:14:15):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (01:14:15):
He would say, all sorts of ship try to and
a dude named Alan try to push me up against
the locker. Alan Alan Anthony the Preacher's kid.

Speaker 2 (01:14:25):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (01:14:25):
Julian Julian the Julian was trying to make up for stuff,
you know, because Julian was light skinned, so Julian had
to act always the light skin dude. He's like, but
you so, so I remember Julian tried to fight me
when I got off the busk of somebody.

Speaker 8 (01:14:43):
You know.

Speaker 1 (01:14:43):
You said, Joe, mama, Oh you said, my mama. I
didn't his as he says, I'm gonna beat you. Julian,
you don't have to do this. I have to do this,
and then we got into a fight. So Julian, to
those guys and now here's the ten seconds of talking ship.
I forgive you because we were kids. But here's the thing.
This is that they knew who you are now. Oh yeah, okay,

(01:15:06):
oh yeah, like Tangela Park Yeah oh yeah, yeah yeah.
So look, the thing is, I don't hold one piece
of a grudge against anybody who was a childhood bully,
because I've now learned everybody was going through their own thing.
So I hope that each of you we're all in
our fifties now, I'm still younger than y'all because I
skipped the great because I'm smart as hell. So so
I wish you all the very best, and I hope

(01:15:27):
that your lives have been awesome, and that when you
talk to your kids, your friends, hey, I know that
dude on TV, remind them that you were the dude
that shoved me up against the locker, that made me
want to become successful, that I left Orlando for, that
have moved out to LA that I kicked ass and
now I do what I do, so thank you very much.
So my talking shit is actually gratitude. Yeah bars, what's up, y'all?

(01:15:50):
Says on paying bill stopping Part one there? Because well,
come on, stay tuned for part two of Wayne Brady
ow Questlove SUPREMI.

Speaker 6 (01:15:56):
Nex Week or look at your podcast. In that he
talks about the fame Tell's schedule, working on whose line
is it anyway? And its four a in the game
show hosting. I've known Wayne for many years and there's
so much I've learned in this in studio sit down.
The whole team thoroughly enjoyed this, oh last thing. If
you listen this far, please rate, review, subscribe, and spread
the word about Questlove Supreme.

Speaker 1 (01:16:14):
You all make this possible.

Speaker 2 (01:16:16):
Peace West Love Supreme is a production of iHeartRadio. For
more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.